Delhi FC rode on a brace from Sergio Barboza Junior to beat Gokulam Kerala in an I-League encounter at the EMS Corporation Stadium here on Saturday.
Former champion Gokulam was the favourite against Delhi, with the home side having the better exchanges. However, it did not take Delhi’s Barboza Junior long to change the scene.
The Brazilian midfielder, who came on in the 57th minute, scored soon after and added one more towards the end as Delhi defeated a 10-man Gokulam 2-0.
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The result helped Delhi climb a rung, from eighth to seven, while Gokulam stays in the fifth spot.
Gokulam suffered a setback when its defender Mashoor Shereef saw a red card for bringing down Balwant Singh just outside the box in the 40th minute, but the home side, which had beaten Delhi 2-1 last month, stayed in attacking mode even after that. But it could not find the net even once.
At the other end, Barboza’s two goals came in identical fashion.
In the 59th minute, having been played through by a fellow substitute Tondomba Naorem, Barboza outpaced his markers and slotted his shot into the bottom corner to give Delhi the lead.
Two minutes later, he had a chance to make it two from a similar position, but his shot dragged wide. Barboza made amends for it with three minutes of the regulation time left, latching on to Hudson Dias’ through ball this time before blasting it in.
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