FATORDA: FC Goa marked their 100th Indian Super League match with an impressive 2-0 win over NorthEast United FC at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Wednesday.
Though there was some individual brilliance, definitely it wasn’t FC Goa’s best performance despite the win against 10 men visitors who had to play final 20 minutes of the game with a man down.
The win also took FC Goa at the top of the table with 24 points after 12 matches. Three points clear ATK who are on 21 points having a game in hand.
FC Goa found it difficult to find space in the match and despite dominating the play had their first goal coming in the 68th minute through Mislav Komorshki own goal while Ferran Corominas smashed in his eighth goal of the campaign and despite playing less games the Spaniard is back in the race for the Golden Boot. He is now tied at the top along with ATK’s Roy Krishna who also scored 8 goals however, playing two games more than the Spanish striker.
FC Goa, who were dominant in the first half, had a chance to put themselves ahead in the ninth minute when Lenny Rodrigues on seeing Jackichand Singh in the box, played to the winger who set up Ferran, but the Spaniard shot way off target.
As mentioned, there were some individual brilliance, Hugo Boumous was one among them who was outstanding on the pitch and he almost set up FC Goa’s first goal when he played Jackichand through on goal but the lad’s lob shot was cleared by the NorthEast defence just before the ball entered the goal.
The teams entered their dressing room with score 0-0. FC Goa were even more dominant in the second session and nearly took the lead but Jackichand, on reviving a pass from Seriton shot straight to the keeper, however the keeper directed the ball to Brandon, whose effort was blocked by NorthEast defender Reagan Singh.
There was no real chance for FC Goa, but they managed to surge ahead when Komorski put the ball into his own net when he tried to block Jackichand’s cross from the right flank. The NorthEast keeper could have done better as the ball entered the goal after bouncing before him.
Things turned from bad to worse for the visitors with 10 minutes left in the game. Leudo brought down Corominas who was fed through on goal with just the keeper to beat and the defensive midfielder was sent off for a last-man challenge. The Spanish striker converted from 12 yards to score his eighth goal of the season and secure the win for Goa.
