Penalty miss denies Shivajians win against Salgaocar FC

Striker Aser Perrick Dipanda muffed up a second half penalty, forcing DSK Shivajians FC to share points with Salgaocar FC after a 1-1 draw in an I-League clash at Tilak Maidan here today.
Baljit Sahni (25th minute) and Darryl Duffy (30th minute) had struck one goal each for their team in the first half but Shivajians were unfortunate that Perrick could not convert a penalty in the second half.
The result propelled DSK Shivajians to the sixth spot in the I-League table with 13 points, while Salgaocar FC, also on 13 points, leaped to the fifth spot, ahead on head-to-head.

The Shivajians started the match on the front foot as they knocked the ball around the park successfully in the opening exchanges. The first real chance for the Pune-based club came in the sixth minute when Juan Quero delivered a ball in the box from the left flank, but Baljit Sinha was unable to connect with a header in front of an empty goal.
Both the teams picked up the pace after that attack, however, it was the visitors who kept possession of the ball for long periods in the center of the pitch. It was not until the 22nd minute that there was another shot on goal.

Baljit was sent free by Haroon Amiri's through ball from the right flank, but his powerful shot was blocked by Eder again. Baljit made amends for the miss moments later, in the 25th minute, when he scored the opening goal of the match from six yards out after Amiri went past Gurjinder Singh to find the Baljit with a cut-in pass, handing Shivajians the lead.

The Goa-based club leveled the score within five minutes of going down through a Duffy strike, who got on the end of an exquisite passing move around the box to unleash a powerful shot past Subrata Paul in DSK Shivajians' goal.

The Pune-based club tried to respond immediately through a Sena Ralte free-kick, which was blasted straight at the opponent goalkeeper from the right flank, but Karanjit was on guard and was able to punch the ball away for a corner.
Salgaocar FC retaliated with an effort of their own in the 39th minute, when Duffy, one-on-one with the keeper, took a powerful shot, only for Sandesh Jhingan to slide in at the death and prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net.
Amiri and Baljit built upon their blossoming partnership right before the end of first half when the former found Baljit with a cross, but his diving header went just over the bar. The first half came to a close at 1-1, with DSK Shivajians creating more chances.

The second half started on a slower pace, and it took 6 minutes for either of the sides to take an effort on goal. In the 51st minute, Jackichand Singh ran with the ball from his own half and unleashed a powerful shot from outside of the box, but the shot went wide.
Couple of minutes later, Shivajians got back in the action when Quero's lobbed free-kick was met by Sandesh's goal-bound header, who was later adjudged to be offside. The Spaniard was at it again moments later when he found Perrick Dipanda in the box with a sublime pass, with the latter guiding the ball into the back of the net, only for the goal to be disallowed citing an offside.

Shivajians built on their momentum as they took control of the match with confident passing and movement. In the 62nd minute, the Pune-based club was awarded with a penalty after Leny handled the ball in his own box.
Perrick stepped up to take the penalty, but it was Karanjit who had the last laugh as he dived to his bottom left to tip the ball away for a corner.
In the 88th minute, Zote Ralte came up with a match- saving block from Calvin's well-placed shot to deny Salgaocar FC. DSK Shivajians will now welcome Bengaluru FC to Pune for their next I-League encounter on 6th April 2016.