Sporting Clube de Goa consolidated their position atop the table when they beat Chirag United by a solitary goal in a sixth round match of the ONGC I-League, that was marred by 29 minutes' power failure, at the floodlit Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Salt Lake, in Kolkata on Saturday.
Just when it looked like the match was heading towards a drab goalless draw, Joseph Pereira scored from a rebound to swell the Goan side's tally to 15 points from six matches.
Infamous for black-outs, the YBK witnessed yet another familiar sight when the first-half of the play was stopped by a power failure after 27 minutes.
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With both teams stepping up the tempo and the visitors already having missed a sitter, the power failure brought the proceedings to a standstill as the local authorities groped in darkness to fix the problem.
Sporting Clube de Goa could have drawn first blood in the seventh minute but United custodian Gopal Das did a good job to nullify Nathaniel Amos effort.
In fact, Gopal stood out with his performance as his side disappointed the local supporters.
In the 73rd minute, Harmanjot Khabra, playing as right-winger, set up play for Amos. The latter took a shot at goal with a low volley, only to find Gopal in the path. The ball traveled to Pereira, who made no mistake.
The home side made a mess of the chances they got, one of them was in the 60th minute, when their foreign import Subair Muritala Ali failed to convert an easy picking from Gouranga Dutta.
Chirag United remain in tenth place after their sixth match.
