Sophomore Davlatshoh Dilshodov was dared by his veteran teammates to dance in celebration each time he scored this season. He had good reason to show off his moves last Sunday.
Dilshodov controlled a perfect cross into the box from Jefferson Sarmiento and tapped it past the keeper for the winner in the 76th minute of Brooklyn International’s 4–3 victory over defending division champion Abraham Lincoln in a Sept. 14 Brooklyn A West contest at John Dewey High School. Dilshodov then salsa danced alongside Sarmiento inside the box.
“It was awesome,” said Dilshodov, who also had an assist. “It was the winning goal. I was so happy.”
The score came just after Lincoln, which trailed by two goals twice, rallied to tie the score at 3–3 just four minutes earlier. Fayozjon Karimov scored his second goal of the game off a chip pass from Edwin Soto, who added a penalty kick goal.
The winner was set up by a great effort from Sarmiento, who scored three times in the first half. He dribbled past his defender along the left side, drew the keeper off his line and put a perfect pass to Dilshodov’s foot.
“I knew he was running with me,” Sarmiento said. “Instead of kicking I just passed the ball. I knew the goalie was coming to me.”
Brooklyn International coach Paul Allen hopes to see more performances like that from Sarmiento, after his team lost its two leading scorers from last season. Allen also saw athletic forward Amadou Ndiaye step up filling in for senior Mohammed Mbaye in goal in the first half. Mbaye, who lives in the Bronx, ran into trouble with mass transit on his way to Dewey.
Ndiaye made four saves, including two diving stops in the 35th minute. It helped Brooklyn International (2–1) take a 3–1 lead into the break after Sarmiento scored in the 39th minute. Ndiaye even surprised his teammates with his performance.
“I didn’t know he could do that,” Dilshodov said.
Lincoln (2–1) didn’t take advantage of the backup keeper and head coach Chris Vega felt his team was sluggish in the first half. Mistakes on defense and a little bad luck led to a deficit. The Railsplitters rallied after the break. Karimov headed in a pass from Shaakhzod Akhmedov to make it 3–2 in the 58th minute, but Lincoln saw the contest get away from them in the closing moments. Mbaye made a diving save on a shot by Akhmedov in the game’s final seconds.
“It’s a very frustrating way to lose,” Vega said. “Even though we played bad today, we were in a situation where we could have won.”
Allen hopes this proves to his players they can play with just about anyone in the borough. Brooklyn International is looking to put three-straight one-goal playoff losses behind them, but in the coach’s mind, that putting away games like this early.
“It shows they are capable of doing it,” Allen said. “But they don’t have the sense we should have won more comfortably.”
