Dempo SC, exhibiting a spirited show, scored a late equalizer to snatch points from fancied East Bengal with a 2-2 draw in the opening match of the Super Cup at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Saturday.
Dempo drew first blood in the 27th minute. The goal came from a set-piece. A ball was floated inside the box, and Debjit Majumder came off his line to punch the ball away. However, he misjudged the flight of the ball and could not make contact with it. Mohamed Ali got the ball and made no mistake in slotting it inside the net from close distance.
The Golden Eagles held on to their slender lead till the half-time whistle. East Bengal, after the break, pressed their opposition and found an equalizer within 33 seconds of the starting whistle. A shot came in from the left side of the box, and Dempo keeper Ashish Sibi could only parry the ball away to Mahesh Naorem Singh, who lashed the ball inside the net with a grounded effort.
Oscar Bruzon’s men took the lead in the 57th minute and in style. Miguel Ferreira scored a potential goal-of-the-tournament, unleashing an accurate left-footer on the bounce from a tight angle on the left. The ball flashed past Sibi and rattled the net as the East Bengal players broke into jubilation. This was the Brazilian striker’s first goal with the Red-and-Gold brigade.
But like the first half, the Kolkata giant failed to capitalize on its dominance.
Mahesh came close to scoring when his curling effort hit the crossbar and came back into play, but apart from that, East Bengal failed to create any clear-cut scoring chances.
In the 89th minute, Laximanrao Rane punished East Bengal with a well-placed shot from the edge of the box to gift a point to the Golden Eagles.
