AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: In a tight game against Kuppuraj FC, Sporting Clube de Goa secured a 3-2 victory by the narrowest of margins and bagged their first points in the Hero Futsal Club Championship 2021-22.

With both teams having suffered a defeat in their opening games, it was imperative that they secured maximum points in this match. This approach resulted in a cagey affair as both sides feared conceding first. The first half went goalless, with neither team able to convert any of the half-chances that they were creating.

In the second half, a swift goal for Kuppuraj FC by Rajaganapathy opened the floodgates. It broke the shell for Sporting Clube de Goa and they went on ultra-attacking mode. Two goals in two minutes followed as a result, with Lloyd Cardozo and Rohit Shankar Totad scoring in the 22nd and 23rd minute respectively.

Austin Jijo was given a yellow card in the 30th minute for a bad challenge. Kuppuraj FC tried their best and came close to scoring many times, which would have been the equaliser for them. Their hopes of securing even a point from this match were dashed by Lloyd Cardozo as he scored his second goal of the game in the 38th minute and gave Sporting Clube de Goa the buffer that they needed.

That buffer came in handy as Austin Jijo pulled one back in in the penultimate minute of the game. However, it was too little too late for the side from Pondicherry, who after having lost both their games so far have crashed out of the tournament.

Sporting Clube de Goa will come up against Speedforce FC in their next match, and will be hoping that they can defeat them in the final match of the group stages.