By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : JCT started their Federation Cup campaign on a winning note by registering a 3-1 win over a 10-man Vasco in the opening match here Tuesday.
Strikes from Brazilians Eduardo Escobar and Marcos Pereira and an own-goal from Robert Fernandes saw JCT qualify for the quarterfinal stage in this 16-team knockout tournament at the sparsely filled Guru Nanak Stadium. Matthew Odje scored the consolation goal for the Goan team.
Vasco were reduced to 10 men in the 85th minute after Queterio Pango kicked Baldeep Singh (Sr).
JCT, playing on their home ground, were always on the attacking mode right from the start and the first goal came as early as in the fifth minute from a fine finish by Escobar. The Brazilian unleashed his powerful left-footer past goalie Juze Siddhi from a free kick.
After taking the lead, JCT stepped up the flurry of attacks and Escobar again came close to net his second goal in the 19th minute but his swerving free kick was parried away by Siddhi.
JCT playing upfront with Escobar and Sunil Chettri kept on making frequent inroads and the second goal came in the dying minutes of the half time. For Escobar his second goal remained elusive but the Brazilian was impressive all throughout the regulation time and set up the second goal for Pereira.
Escobar made a solo run from the left wing and just from the edge of the back-line gave a clinical square pass to an unmarked Pereira in the box, who just flicked the ball into the net to double the lead.
Chettri, who was the highest Indian scorer in the recently concluded Nehru Cup, was rusty but in the 33rd minute he was unlucky to miss one after his right-footer from the edge kissed the left bar on its way out. Chettri was replaced in the 67th minute by Parvin Kumar, who displayed flashes of brilliance but was far away from netting.
The Goans were lucky enough to pull one back in the 68th minute, thanks to a lapse from JCT defenders. A neat pass from Joy Ferrao found an unmarked Odje on the edge of the box. Odge didn’t waste time and chipped it over JCT goalie Karajit Singh to reduce the margin.
Lack of coordination among the Vasco defenders was exposed when Robert Fernandes, in an attempt to clear the ball off a goalmouth melee, shot into his own net. Escobar aimed for the near post from the right side of the box and it was thwarted by Siddhi, but he fumbled and failed to grab on to it and Fernandes in his attempt to clear slotted it into his net.
Teams:
JCT: Karanjit Singh (goalkeeper), Anwar, Julius Irabor Akpele, Baljit Singh Sahni, Jaswinder Singh, Baldeep Singh (sr), Renedy Singh, Marcos Pereira, Baldeep Singh (Jr), Shivraj Singh (Rakinderjit Singh, 22), Sunil Chettri (Parvin Kumar, 67), Eduardo Escobar
Vasco: Juje Sidhi (goalkeeper), Caento Costa, Kamal Thapa, Angelo Martins (Rehman Cardozo, 76), Mathew Odje, Remedios Barreto, Alvito Rodrigiues, Queterio Pango, Robert Fernandes, Menino Fernandes
Refree: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat)