PANJIM: FC Goa played out a scrappy goalless draw against Sporting Clube de Goa, at the Don Bosco ground, Panjim, on Friday.
The game, which saw very little goal-mouth action, was confined mostly to the midfield witch both teams looking to control the tempo of the proceedings.
The young Gaurs started on the front foot as a foul on Joybert Almeida brought about a free-kick in a dangerous area in the 7th minute of the game. Up stepped Rayan Menezes for FC Goa, but he failed to test the keeper with his attempt on goal.
The most contentious moment of the game arrived six minutes later when a miscued cross by Mevan Dias – which looked to be going out of touch fell right on the goal line before nestling into the back of the net. That seemed to have taken the referee and his assistant by surprise and eventually led them to rule that the ball had gone out before coming in – much to the bemusement of the FC Goa players.
The only chance for Sporting in the first 45 minutes came via a direct free-kick and one time when a dubious bounce threatened to sneak the ball in. Hrithik Tiwari in the FC Goa goal, however, showed real poise and composure on both occasions to steer his team clear of danger.
The second half saw much of the same from both sides with an uneven surface making it difficult for the youngsters to string together a series of passes.
For the Gaurs Vasim Imamdar looked to be most threatening with his runs on the right-wing whilst Mevan Menezes tried to get behind the Sporting defense time and again with his precise runs.
The biggest chance in the second period belonged to Sporting when a mistake in the Goa backline allowed Pratik Dhargalkar to sneak into the right-hand side of the box. His effort though was well saved by the outstretched Hrithik.
FC Goa meanwhile had to contend with feeding off scraps and their best effort came to Rayan Menezes via a direct free kick. His effort, this time though on target was easily saved by Moin Mansuri in the Sporting goal.
The draw takes the young Gaurs’ to the top of the table in the Goa group with 12 points from 7 games. Sporting meanwhile remains in 4th position in the group with 7 points from their 8 games.
FC Goa will be back in action in the Hero Elite League on February 24 when they take on Salgaocar at the Ella Ground in Goa.
