Year’s fourth title for Salgaocar

The silver lining to the proceedings was provided by speedy Alvito. The absence of support strikers denied the NFL champions a goal before the extra time.

Despite the valiant efforts of striker Dipendu Biswas and Abdul Khalique, Bagan lacked in confidence, particularly in the midfield. In contrast, their defence withstood the Salgaocar pressure time and again as Dulal Biswas excelled with his superlative performance. He brought off some good goalline saves.

Though Bagan missed somechances early in the game, they did not force the pace against a strong Salgaocar defence. And whenever they did manage, goalkeeper Raghuvir Khanolkar came in the way. Khanolkar, substituting for Siddi, had a reasonably good day under the bar.

Of the two close shaves against Bagan, Salgaocar almost scored when Jules Alberto centred for Alvito to do the rest. The latter had a very good chance as he prepared himself to head in even as Dora left his position to intercept him. But Alvito’s header was headed back into play by Mustafi. The ball was in air for a while going back and forth but without any worthwhile result. Later, Dora made a last-minute save when a feeble push by Alberto reached him.