10-man Diamond Harbour finish strong against Sporting Clube

Panaji: Sporting Clube de Goa’s bid to return to the I-League started with a defeat after they failed to corner Diamond Harbour FC, who were reduced to ten men for more than half an hour at the Naihati Stadium on Sunday.

Diamond Harbour scored the opening goal in the 35th minute from a penalty, converted by Naro Hari Shreshta. The hosts were reduced to ten men in the 56th minute after Mohit Mittal was sent off for a dangerous tackle. The advantage and momentum swung Sporting Clube’s way, but it were Diamond Harbour who struck from a counter attack in the 89th minute with Girik Khosla scoring the insurance goal.

Sporting did pull a goal back when Vikram Venkatachalam converted a penalty in stoppage time but there was no time left for a comeback.

Among the favourites to qualify, Diamond Harbour started strongly and pushed Sporting on the backfoot. After a couple of close shaves, Sporting conceded a penalty when Joel Colaco was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. Naro Hari stepped up and made no mistake, despite goalkeeper Abhimanyu Singh going the same way.

Sporting’s attempts to respond were met with stiff resistance, and despite a numerical advantage following the red card in the second half, their final ball lacked precision.

Sporting relied on long rangers to restore parity. Ivon Costa saw two of his attempts miss the target narrowly, while Dattaraj Gaonkar’s powerful shot from outside the box was parried away by the goalkeeper.

As the match entered its closing stages, Khosla’s well-timed finish widened the gap, leaving Sporting with an uphill task.

Venkatachalam’s late goal offered a glimmer of hope, but it was too little too late.