Margao: It couldn’t be a worse start for defending champions. Karim Bencherifa’s Salgaocar SC went down 0-1 to Armando Colaco’s Dempo in the first match of I-League, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here, on Saturday.
Ranti Martins broke the deadlock in the 80th minute after collecting a long ball from Joaquim Abranches to slot it past Karanjit Singh.
Salgaocar SC started in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Ryuiji Sueoka playing behind Chidi Edeh, while Dempo SC opted for their standard 4-4-2 with Ranti Martins and Joaquim Abranches being the two strikers.
The defending champions were guilty of showing Dempo SC far too much respect, which was evident as they never closed down the spaces. Ranti Martins and Climax Lawrence played a quick one-two, which saw the latter’s curling shot go over the bar at the end of the first quarter.
In Bangalore, Chirag United Kerala defeated hosts Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by a solitary goal to open their I-League campaign on a positive note.
CK Vineet scored the only goal of the match in the 13th minute after capitalising on a defensive lapse from HAL.
Elsewhere, Pune FC opened their I-League campaign with a goalless draw against Shillong Lajong FC at the Balewadi Sports Complex, in Pune.
In a game of equal exchanges, Pune FC distinctly had an upper hand with the chances they created and went close on several occasions, Lajong in the bargain did well but were ambitious rather than penetrative.
