Viva Kerala beat bottom-placed Salgaocar, Goa 3-1 in the fifth round of the ONGC I-League football tie at the Corporation stadium here on Saturday. Viva, who led 1-0 at the half-time, scored through Wisdom Abbey (40th), Baba Tunde (54th) and CS Saleel (73rd). Boniface Ambani scored the lone goal for the visitors three minutes into the second half.
After Nigerian import fed the ball, Bimal Birua sent a deep cross to unmarked Ghanian Abbey,  who hit a flashy header to give the lead for the hosts.
Kenyan Ambani restored parity soon after the break, when he brilliantly guided a Felix Chimaakwu’s pass  into the net.
From then on, it was Viva who not only held the territorial advantage but also maintained the pressure to go up 2-1 when Tunde hammered the ball into the net.
While the Goan team tried their best to restore parity  once again, substitute Saleel shocked the visitors by neatly collecting a rebound off Salgaocar’s custodian Markos Basumatari to put the home team 3-1 ahead.
Salgaocar, who lacked the requisite firepower upfront to break the rival defence on several occasions, remain at the bottom of the table in the 10-team League with  two points, while Viva moved up to fourth spot with eight points behind current leaders Dempo (13), JCT (11) and Churchill Brothers (9).
Close contest
Meanwhile, the league moves on to its sixth round as defending champions Dempo take on their closest challengers JCT in New Delhi and Churchill Brothers host former champions Mohun Bagan at Nehru Stadium in Margao.
The JCT-Dempo tie, deemed to be a home match for the former, is not staged at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, providing football lovers of the capital an opportunity to see the two best clubs in the league on current form with an unbeaten record.