Dempo clip Air India's wing; drub them 4-1

Mumbai, Dec 20 (UNI) A brace each by Ranty Martins and Edeh Chidi enabled Goan giants Dempo to ground Air India scoring a facile 4-1 win in the seventh round encounter of the inaugural I League tourney at the Cooperage here today.

With this win, Dempo moved up to 17 points, while Air India remained on seven points from seven matches.

Air India who had their confidence up after a good win over East Bengal in the last round, were totally outplayed by the Goan side to suffer a humiliating 1-4 defeat on their home turf.

Dempo the table toppers took the lead in the 36th minute when lax defending of a corner kick by Air India saw the ball fall to Edeh Chidi who made no mistake to put the visitors in front.

In the injury time of the first half Bashiru Abbas headed to Njon Jean who scored to put the teams at 1-1 going into the half time.

The second half belonged to Dempo all the way as Air India cracked under the pressure.

Dempo took the lead in the 62nd minute when Edeh Chidi from the left moved inside the defence beating two defenders with good turns and then essayed a powerful shot which the Air India goalkeeper had no chance to make it 2-1.

Ranty Martins then in the 69th and 80th minutes put himslef on the scoreboard with Climax Lawrence providing the pass for his first goal and the second was a solo effort to warp up a comprehensive 4-1 win for the Goan side.

UNI