Salgoacar, Mumbai FC post I-L wins; Mohun Bagan draws

Kannur (Kerala) : Salgaocar SC humiliated Viva Kerala 3-0 at the Jawahar Municipal Stadium here on Friday in style by taking full in their opener of the I-League match.

Salgaocar dominated the proceedings right from the word go and never allowed their opponent to dictate the terms. Japanese midfielder Ryuji Sueoka, who dismantled the Viva Kerala defence early in the first half and further adding more worries in the second half.

Ryuji who reunited with his former coach Karim Bencharifa from Mohun Bagan came up with a brilliant performance in his first league match for the team and was adjudged the ??Man of the Match??.

Anthony Barbosa was the other name on the scoresheet for the Goans. Salgaocar took the aggressive approach right from the outset and took the lead in the 8th minute as Ryuji Sueoka tapped in his first goal.

Sueoka was lucky to be at the end of a ball which was a result of a Salgaocar corner kick. After the goal was conceded, Viva tried to build some attacks, but failed to even enter the penalty area of Salgaocar.

The Goans doubled their lead just before the half time whistle. It was Anthony Barbosa scoring in the injury time of the first half taking advantage of a goalkeeper mistake.

Ryuji continued to be exceptional with his crosses in the second half, but the Salgaocar strikers were not able to convert them into chances. It was the Japanese himself who scored the third in the 61st minute after making a lone run from the wing and ghosting past the advancing keeper to put the ball in the back of the net.

The only chances produced by Viva Kerala were two long range shots that flew yards wide of the goal. Even though they were playing at home, they lacked confidence in the attacks.

The midfield couldn?t feed Felix Chimaokwu with balls; thanks to the centre back Khelemba Metei who came up with a brilliant performance at the back for Salgaocar SC.

Karim Bencherifa will be all smiles after collecting three crucial points, which will set the spirits high at the Salgaocar camp for the next match against Chirag United at Goa.

In Kolhapur, Mumbai FC came from behind to beat Air India 2-1 in the round one tie at Sahu Maharaj ground.

Though Air India got the initial advantage, they couldn?t get the momentum going and capitalise on the lead.

Their city rival Mumbai FC first leveled scores off striker Henry Ezeh in the 65th minute and later midfielder Nicholas Rodrigues gave them their first three points and a blazing start to a new I-league season.

After dominating the first half and missing two golden chances, the Airmen repented on not being able to cash in on the advantage.

At half time both the teams were unable to score any goal and the scoreboard read 0-0.

Air India midfielder Yusuf Ibrahim gave them a lead in the 63rd minute when he went past the Mumbai FC defence and let the ball into the post.

But their happiness was short-lived as just two minutes later Mumbai FC striker cashed in on the confusion when Uttam Singh and goalkeeper Arup Debnath fell down and he tapped the ball in.

Both the teams wanted a win to get a great start to the league, but that could be just one of the two teams and Friday was Mumbai FC?s day. It was the left footer hit from Mumbai FC striker Nicholas Rodrigues which helped to seal the win for Mumbai FC.

In another match of the day, in Pune, Mohun Bagan drew their first game 1-1 against Pune FC.

Even though the team from Bengal scored first with Snehashis Chakraborty’s goal in the 33rd minute, the favour was returned by Pune’s Arata Izumi in the 82nd minute.