After two games without victory, FC Goa’s campaign was threatening to fade with injuries taking a huge toll on Zico’s side. Having replaced the injured Darryl Duffy with 27-year old Rafael Coelho Luiz, Zico drafted the Brazilian straight into the starting 11 along side promising youngster, Thongkhosiem Haokip. The Florianopolis born forward did not disappoint in his debut game in the ISL.
Zico has constantly berated the standard of refereeing in the second season of the ISL with his team bearing the brunt of a number of incorrect calls. In Chennai, however, two penalties within a span of 14 minutes sealed the home side’s fate.
A beautifully hit long ball towards Coelho saw the forward beat the offside trap and race clear only for Bernard Mendy to make a clumsy last ditch tackle, for which he was lucky to escape with just a booking. Leo Moura, who missed a sitter at the start of the second half, stepped up and slotted home the spot kick expertly into the top right corner, giving Karanjit Singh no chance.
Fourteen minutes later, a flowing FC Goa counter saw the ball crossed across the box to Rafael whose goal bound shot was blocked by the hand of Mehrajuddin Wadoo. Jonatan Lucca stepped up this time and finished coolly to his right as the goalkeeper guessed wrong.
With the worst disciplinary record in the league, Chennai’s misery was compounded as Harmanjot Khabra; just returning from a red card suspension was shown another red for a horror tackle on Moura.
Zico has started to employ a three centre half strategy to curb the number of goals his team is conceding. The strategy seemed to work against FC Pune City at home. Against the pacy John Stiven Mendoza and the architect, Elano, Goa’s ploy of playing from the back came to fruition with the defence and Bikramjit Singh keeping the free scoring Chennai front line in check.
Having lost just two matches and drawn the same number along with four wins, FC Goa are perched firmly at the top ahead of a tricky away game against FC Pune City.
