Scott D’Souza shines as UBI sinks Mumbai Customs

by Siddharth Yadav January 4, 2018

4th January 2018, Mumbai: Union Bank of India (UBI) cemented their place at the third spot of Elite Division table after recording a hard-fought 2-0 win over Mumbai Customs earlier today at Mumbai Football Arena, Andheri. Prolific striker Scott D’Souza scored twice in the second-half which proved enough for the Bankers to snatch all three points against Customs.

With this win, UBI has now 13 points in six games where they notched up four wins. On the other hand, Mumbai Customs suffered their second consecutive loss and third in total. They are fourth with 10 points.

The match had a lightning start. Both the sides headed towards the match in hope to bounce back after suffering loss at the hands of defending champions Air India. Right from the kick-off, UBI and Customs created numerous opportunities but somehow both the sets of defenders worked out brilliantly to keep the attack at bay.

UBI’s Ranjeet could have opened the scoring midway into the first-half. Scott D’Souza set Ranjeet with a delightful ball whose shot was superbly saved by Customs’ goalkeeper Liyaz Kaya. Without any doubt, this was the best chance of the first-half.

Scott, who rarely got any space to exploit Customs’ defense in the first-half, finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute with a close-range finish as his initial attempt struck the upright and went across the line into the back of the net.

Customs pushed forward to find the equalizer. John Coutinho’s deadly cross from left-flank kept worrying UBI’s backline. John came agonizingly close when his left-footed free-kick struck the post in the last stages of the match. Defender and Captain Hekmat Singh also came close to find the back of the net when his header was cleared off the line.

In the 90th minute, UBI finally put the game beyond doubt when Scott doubled the lead with yet another close-range strike, his eighth goal of the campaign to seal the game in style.