Sporting clube-de-Goa's Elijah Obagbemiro scored a goal in each half to star in his team's 3-0 win over Viva Kerala in the 14th round of the ONGC I-League football championship at Nehru Stadium in Margao.
The local outift, who led 2-0 at half time, scored through Harmanjot Khabra (20th) and Elijah Obagmeriro (33rd, 61st).
Sporting Clube-de-Goa's keeper Luis Barreto, who brought off a couple of good saves in the second half, was declared the Man of the Match.
The Goa club, who knew that Tuesday's match was crucial to keep themselves safe from relegation, played with determination and dominated the match.
Rajesh Meetei, who overlapped well on the left flank, put Obagbemiro twice clear inside the box but the latter failed to give Sporting an early lead.
Sporting's persistent effort bore fruit in the 20th minute when Khabra, who was near the goal, deceived rival keeper Purushothaman to open the account for his team.
Obagbemiro then made amends for his earlier lapses when he drove the ball into the net with an angular drive from the top of the box off a pass from Chinta Chandrashekar in the 33rd minute.
Wilton Gomes had a clear chance to increase the lead but he shot the ball straight at keeper off a pass from Obagmeriro a few minutes later.
Viva Kerala could not combine well as a unit though they created a couple of scoring chances. The visitors had their best chance in the 13th minute but Saleel shot out from inside the box off a pass by Baba Tunde.
Sporting continued to dictate terms to their rivals after the change of ends and increased the lead in the 61st minute, when Obagmeriro directed the ball into the net off a measured cross from the right by Edjei Lawerence.
Referee P Bhasker showed yellow card to Viva Kerala's Wisdom Abbey.
