Marcus Joseph’s hat-trick leads dominant display at Fatorda stadium as Golden Eagles secure resounding 8-1 victory
MARGAO
Dempo Sports Club nearly laughed their way to full points at the Nehru Stadium on Saturday when they outclassed Sporting Club Bengaluru 8-1 in Round 18 of the I-League 2024-25.
The home side, who led 4-1 at half time, took their points to 22 points from 18 games, while the Bengaluru side are left with 17 from 18 matches.
A flurry of goals in the first 16 minutes nearly killed the competitive nature of the match as Dempo hammered three goals during this period. Whatever efforts Bengaluru put up thereafter weren’t enough to alter the result as the fate of the encounter was sealed by then.
Trinidadian striker Marcus Joseph was the biggest beneficiary in the goal feast as he netted a hat-trick (8’, 9’, 43’) with Seigoumang Doungel (16’), Spanish midfielder Juan Mera Gonzalez (49’, penalty), Argentinian Damian Perez Roa (77’), Kapil Hoble (87’) and Nigerian Lukman Abegunrin (88′) getting the other goals. Ugandan Henry Kisekka found the mark for the visitors in the 23rd minute.
Joseph scored the first goal in the eighth minute when a Doungle through found him in the six-yard area. Joseph made no mistake. The next minute, Bengaluru dug their own grave with a hair-raising defensive error. It was a miss-pass that reached Joseph almost on a platter and the Trinidadian gleefully accepted it to beat goalkeeper Yuya Kuriyama.
In the 16th minute the Japanese goalkeeper didn’t do any favour to his reputation when he allowed Doungel to find the target. An almost similar goal by Henry Kisekka on the other side saw Sporting Club Bengaluru attempting a semblance of a comeback in the 23rd minute, but Joseph completed his hat-trick in the 43rd to further widen the gap.
The story in the second session continued to be one-sided. A porous Bengaluru defence made Dempo’s task easy with Juan Mera, Damian Perez Roa, Kapil Hoble and Lukman Abegunrin writing their names on the scoresheet.
In between, Sporting Club Bengaluru’s Shanid Valan earned himself a red card to further deepen his team’s woes.
Dempo Sports Club head coach Samir Naik was effusive in his praise of his team following their dominant 8-1 victory .
"I would say that we played an amazing game," Naik stated. "We played like warriors. We controlled the game from start to finish. I'm happy for the three points, but we're not finished."
Naik revealed that he made tactical adjustments throughout the match, emphasizing the team's overall strong performance. "We've been playing really well and just needed to score," he explained. "I think this is our best game in the competition. The players showed everybody our real level and competed really well."
Looking ahead to the upcoming Goan derby against Churchill Brothers FC, a team they previously lost to, Naik expressed his determination to maintain this level of performance. "It will be another final," he said. "We need to keep our position and prepare to get the three points again. This is our mentality for all the games. We want possession, we want to attack, and it will not change."
Naik further emphasized Dempo's commitment to finishing the season strong. "We have three matches left at home and will try to win them all," he declared. "We have played all our matches with all we have, and we will keep giving our best, no doubt about that."
