Team Herald

FATORDA: Ferran Corominas brought a smile on the faces of FC Goa fans to cheer ahead of the festive season by firing a brace to guide The Gaurs to 3-0 win against Odisha FC in the Indian Super League match, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here, on Sunday.

Corominas scored in the 19th and 89th minutes to complete his brace while another strike from Brandon Fernandes in the 85th minute was enough to seal three points for the home team.

The home team banking on crowd support began firing on all cylinders from the word go and they could have taken the lead with their very first attack of the match.  Mandar Rao Desai crossed a delightful ball at the far post but Narayan Das was on his toes to stop the ball from reaching Jackichand Singh, who was lurking behind him.

In the next minute, Hugo Boumous tried his luck from a distance and Odisha FC were lucky to see his goal-bound shot miss the target by inches after taking a deflection off Diawandou Diagne.

The Gaurs were rewarded for their efforts in the 19th minute when Corominas drew first blood. Jerry Mawihmingthanga was robbed of the ball in his own half by Brandon, and he did well to find Jackichand. The Manipuri winger produced a defence splitting through ball for Boumous who in turn squared it for Corominas inside the box and the striker made no mistake to find the back of the net.

FC Goa coach Sergio Lobera was forced into making a substitution in the 20th minute as Jackichand could not continue after injuring his ankle and Seiminlen Doungel was thrown into action.

Odisha FC were struggling to play out from the back and turned over possession at frequent intervals as they were unable to cope with FC Goa's high pressure. Against the run of play, Odisha FC churned out their first chance of the match when Aridane Santana spotted a run by midfielder Martin Guedes and squeezed in a superb through ball for him. But the Argentine's poor first touch let him down and his subsequent shot from a tight angle sailed off-target.

Odisha FC coach Josep Gombau made two changes at the break with midfielder Xisco Hernandez and defender Gaurav Bora coming off the bench. He was also forced to use his third substitution in the 49th minute as Jerry came off worse after a challenge from Mourtada Fall.

Odisha FC came close to drawing level in the 59th minute when Narayan Das' inch-perfect cross was headed towards goal by Xisco but for an alert Mohammad Nawaz who pulled off a brilliant save to keep the score line unchanged.  

At the other end, Arshdeep Singh did well to stop Doungel's attempt  from point-blank range.

However, it were FC Goa who scored the next goal. Brandon scored in the 85th minute with a long-range effort after Arshdeep failed to make a routine save.

In the 89th minute, FC Goa further extended their lead when Corominas converted from the spot. The two-time Golden Boot winner scored his second of the evening after he was fouled by Aridane inside the box.