Dempo go down to Al Nasr

Two late goals shattered Dempo Sports Club's hopes of snatching a precious away point in their opening AFC Cup match against Al Nasr of Oman.

The teams were locked 1-1 till 80 minutes, but the Goan team's defence gave way thereafter, allowing the hosts to register a decisive 3-1 result at the Salalah Sports Complex in Oman on Tuesday.

The match, which was goalless at half-time, came to life in the 57th minute when Al Nasr's Mohammed Matoona connected home a Mubarak Mohamed cross from the right to put his side ahead.

Both the players had been introduced as substitutes to add more teeth to the hosts' attack.

Dempo restored parity against the run of play when they received a penalty after a rash foul by Al Nasr custodian Abdul Fael. Nigerian Ranty Martins scored from the spot to level the score in the 73rd minute.

This raised hopes in the NFL champions' camp of an away point but their inability to deal effectively with their opponents' crosses proved their undoing.

After neat interplay with Mubarak, Matoona rose to head a perfectly weighted cross for his second goal of the match, which restored the hosts' lead in the 79th minute.

Another cross from Mubarak created confusion in the Dempo defence and John Dias turned the ball into his own net with four minutes to go.

The visitors went into the evening match with defence on their minds and had, thus, employed a crowded midfield to thwart Al Nasr's attacks, at which they succeeded for a long period of the match.

Dempo will take on Merv of Turkmenistan in another AFC Cup away match on March 21.