Francisco Salin’s hat-trick does the trick for Customs

by Siddharth Yadav December 21, 2017

20th December 2017, Mumbai: On Wednesday evening, Francisco Salin hit top-form to lead Mumbai Customs to an emphatic 4-1 victory against newly-promoted side Mumbai Strikers at Cooperage Stadium in MDFA (Mumbai District Football Association) Elite Division encounter.

Customs went into the match after a disappointing 1-1 draw against KSA (Karnataka Sports Association) in their previous match, while Mumbai Strikers lost to MS Police 2-1 and was hoping to bounce back with a win which they are yet to manage this season so far.

Mumbai Strikers had a great start, both in terms of defending and attacking. The Strikers got a breakthrough in the 12th minute when Srinath Gite went past couple of  Customs’ defenders and hit a low-drive which ended up in the back of the net, giving Strikers a deserving lead.

Customs went all-in and looked for threatening in the rest of the first-half. But their poor finishing let them down as a series of misses from winger John Coutinho, Nazeef Chembakessary and Ashrafali Makandar gave Mumbai Strikers a sigh of relief who looked panic in the closing stages of the first-half.

Customs’ experienced defender Hekmat Singh even managed to hit the woodwork with a glancing header but it sure didn’t look like Customs’ day at least until star striker Francisco Salin was brought on in the second-half. The prolific striker soon levelled the score with a flying header when a pinpoint left-footed cross by John Coutinho found Salin inside the box.

A couple of minutes later, Salin was on the mark again as he delicately placed his effort into the back of the net to put Customs’ noses in front. Mumbai Strikers lost the momentum and confidence after conceding the second goal. Midfielder Praneel Mendon scored the third goal to put the game beyond Strikers’ reach before Salin completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot to give Customs their third win of the season.

Other results: Central Bank of India (CBI) 0-0 Western Railway at Mumbai Football Arena, Andheri.