Salgaocar pip rusty East Bengal

 Salgaocar FC got the better of East Bengal 3-1 in the fifth round of the Hero I-League at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda here on Saturday.

Darryl Duffy played a major role in Salgaocar’s win as he hit the second goal and set up Douhou Pierre in the first goal.

Salgaocar, who led 2-0 at half time, scored through Pierre (43rd min), Duffy (45th min) and Brian Mascarenhas (65th min).

East Bengal, who had large share of ball possession, pulled one back in the 77th minute through Dudu Omagbemi.

The win took Salgaocar to third place with eight points from five matches. East Bengal remained on seven points from four matches.

Salgaocar preferred to guard their citadel and attack on counter with Duffy playing the lone striker upfront. The defense played an outstanding game in all four ties.

Francis Kasonde kept Dudu Omagbemi and Ranti Martins quite and despite East Bengal doing most of the probing, they could not breach Salgaocar defence.

Salgaocar, who looked dangerous on counter moves, finally netted the ball in the 43rd minute when Duffy, who received a pass from Pierre, ran into the box and set up Pierre after beating the rival defence with a one to one pass. Pierre, who controlled the ball, shot home from close for his goal.

Two minutes later, Duffy received a pass from the left by Gilbert Oliveira and a firm shot found the roof of the net, beating goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.

After the change of ends, East Bengal defence once again fumbled and conceded another goal in the 65th minute.

Pierre stole the ball from Harmanjot Khabra, ran down the flank on the right and send a perfect cross into the box for Brian Mascarenhas, who beat the rival keeper with a left-footer, to score and take the game completely away from East Bengal.

Omagbemi finally scored his first goal in the league when he drove the netted ball, beating Subrata Paul.

In the other games of the day, Mohan Bagan beat Pune 1-0, while Royal Wahingdoh fought back from a goal down to hold Dempo SC 1-1.

 Pritam Kotal scored the only goal of the match for the Mariners in the 77th minute, while in Guwahati, a 71st minute strike from Nadong Bhutia canceled out a Germanpreet Singh’s 53rd minute goal.