In the second league encounter of the season MS overcame a young DK Pharma side beating them 5-1. On the back of a convincing 6-1 lead over St Paul’s, Dadar in the first game, MS were confident and looking to wrap up a victory.
MS wanted to avoid conceding an early goal as they did in the first game. That danger was averted as MS did not concede the first goal this time. As expected, early chances in the game fell to MS front man Ravish D’souza. Ravish had a handful of chances early in the game thanks to some good through balls played by the MS midfield. Ravish however looked off color as he failed to convert the first 5 chances that fell in his path. The Pharma goalkeeper was equally brilliant as he closed down Ravish well on those occasions forcing Ravish to miss chances.
The dead lock was eventually broken as Sagar lashed on to a ball from midfielder Amit Singh. Sagar slotted home a well placed shot in to the far corner. Ravish finally got his first goal of the game as he placed a shot that crawled in to the net. MS midfielder Rohit D’souza who is known for his defensive abilities started the game as a CAM. He then added a third for MS as he scored a screamer of a goal. A perfectly placed shot from the D-top in to the far post bracket saw the keeper stand no chance to save it. MS players were then joking amongst themselves as they pretended to be shocked at the attempt from Rohit. Nevertheless, with a 3 goal margin MS looked like they were heading for another satisfying victory. But DK Pharma then managed to pull a goal back in the first half. A lapse in concentration saw goalkeeper Leon misjudge the flight of a free kick from DK Pharma. Leon was standing a few steps ahead of the goal line and failure to back track on time saw the ball zoom past him in to the net. From nowhere DK Pharma were right back in to it. That’s how the half ended.
As the second half went on, the heat started taking its toll and slowed the pace of the game tremendously. That favored MS as DK Pharma could not manage to attack in numbers. MS switched to defensive mode as its wingers had started to tire. A straight swap saw holding midfielder Rajesh come on for Rameez and two other changes saw Vernon come in for Rohit and Aditya making his debut coming in for Sagar. Sagar was out of steam mid way through the second half since he was heavily involved in most of MS attacks. Vernon brought in a lot of composure as MS had started losing possession in the middle of the park more than often. The changes however helped MS bag two more goals as Ravish scored his second of the match and Aditya sweetened his debut with a goal.
It was a convincing win over all. But there is always room for improvement and MS coach Firmin will surely try to work on those with tougher opponents to come.