I-League: Beto star of Dempo win over Bagan

MARGAO: Dempo Sports Club showed heart but it was Beto who was their soul as he conjured up goal scoring opportunities from nowhere for teammates Ranti Martins, Clifford Miranda and Climax Lawrence.
The three responded in grand fashion as the defending champions demolished Mohun Bagan 4-1 in an 18th round I-League clash at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Thursday.
Beto was the master craftsman. His sublime touches, nudges, solo runs and curling crosses were a treat and eventually left the visitors desperate and desolate as Ranti and Clifford tore down the rival citadel, the latter finishing with a double strike. It was Climax who triggered the goal-glut and Ranti slotted one between Clifford's strikes to ensure they inched closer to their fifth national league crown.
Bagan's guiding force and technical director, Subhas Bhowmick probably had not expected Dempo to come up with such a performance, especially after his boys showed promise and threatened to take the initiative away from Dempo in the first quarter hour. That was when Muritala Ali had the hearts of local fans skip a beat or two with a couple of razor close opportunities after combining well with Edeh Chidi. If he did manage a consolation goal at the death, it was more a gift from the champions than a well-deserved one that somewhat watered down Bagan's humiliation.
If the defence led by international Mahesh Gawli kept the nippy Muritala and tricky Chidi on a tight leash, the midfield led by another India international Climax made sure Bagan lost the battle in midfield with some tight marking and crisp passing. But it was Beto's magical execution of that final touch that simply knocked the stuffing out of the Bagan defence which boasted of India players Surkumar Singh, Anwar Ali, Deepak Mondal and Rakesh Masih.
Beto had a hand in all four goals starting with Climax's strike in the 25th minute. The lean medio met the Brazilian's curling cross from the right past the entire Bagan defence before Climax sprang forth and dived to nod past goalkeeper Shilton Paul.
Four minutes later, Clifford breezed to the top of the box to meet Beto's clinical long through and even as Paul left his charge to thwart him, he cleverly slided and sliced the ball between defender Dhanaranjan and the onrushing keeper into an empty goal. Paul, however, denied Dempo in the 40th minute, coming up with a brilliant save to thwart Ranti.
The talk in the dressing room failed to bring about any revival in the Bagan camp as Dempo continued their dominance and show of strength in the second half. Chidi did come up with a full-blooded volley that threatened to fly into the net but goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Choudhury proved equal to the task.
The Bagan citadel continued to weather consistent pressure from Dempo as they stepped on the gas. Bhowmick pulled out goalkeeper Shilton who looked to be in discomfort, bringing in Sangram Mukherjee early in the second half and midway through replaced Ishfaq Ahmed with Satish Kumar before throwing his last dice in Brazilian veteran Jose Barreto.
Barreto managed to provide Chidi and Muritala with a few scoring opportunities while managing a couple himself. But this was Dempo's day and Clifford and Ranti brought them to their knees with clinical finishing. It was a display only champions are capable of.