Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
FATORDA: FC Goa succumbed to their first home defeat against FC Pune City 2-0 in the Hero Indian Super League match played at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Saturday.
After a goalless first half, substitute former Gaur Jonatan Lucca gave the Stallions some impetus as he scored the second goal of the match after Emiliano Alfaro gave the visitors the lead.
For FC Goa, Ferran ‘Coro’ Corominas hit the post in the first half.
It was a bright start for the Gaurs who put the pressure on early in the hope of finding a quick lead. It was Brandon Fernandes who was presented with the first chance of the match after neat interplay with Ahmed Jahouh and Mandar Rao Dessai.
The Goan winger’s shot however, was blocked. The home side dominated the ball possession as FC Pune City struggled to keep up with the pace.
The Gaurs had an opportunity to open an account in the 12th minute. A long ball forward found the head of Rafael Gomez whose defensive header almost wrong footed Vishal Kaith in goal. The keeper, however, recovered well to parry. Corominas picked up the loose ball and attempted to score from an acute angle but his shot came off the goal post much to the delight of the travelling Orange Army.
The Stallions began to get into the groove and launched a counter-attack in the 19th minute in search of the lead. Emiliano Alfaro won the ball in midfield and charged towards the rival goal before playing Marcelinho through.
As the match progressed, FC Goa continued to attack and could have been ahead in the 36th minute after Lanzarote fired in a ball across the box.
However, Coro who made a near post run was unable to get healthy contact on it to divert it into the net. A minute later, Jahouh found Lanzarote in acres of space on the right with a peach of a long ball. The attacking midfielder ran into the box, cut a defender and fired a shot at Vishal who made another good save. The rebound was too high for Corominas to head in.
Both sides were creating chances but failed to put any of them away before the referee called time on the half.
It was more of the same post resumption as the Gaurs looked to assert dominance. However, it was FC Pune City who could have scored twice within the space of a minute through Marcelinho who was denied by a superb save from Kattimani and then a last ditch block by Ali Mohamed.
Sergio Lobera made two substitutions early on of Jahouh and Narayan and brought on Pronay Halder and Manuel Arana.
As the half continued, the teams looked for the opening goal. Substitute Jonatan received the ball in midfield and played it to the dangerous Marcelinho who took a few steps forward and threaded an inch prefect pass through the Goan defence to find Alfaro who made no mistake in finishing. The lead should have been doubled hardly a minute later after the Uruguayan found himself one on one with Kattimani. His shot beat the Goan goalkeeper but Pronay charged back to clear just before the ball could cross the line.
Lanzarote was withdrawn for Adrian Colunga in the 75th minute as Sergio looked to bring on fresh legs.
A few minutes later, Corominas set up Brandon just outside the area but the winger’s shot flew high over the post. Moments later, the Stallions doubled their lead. Lucca charged past Seriton on the left side of the box and laid it to Alfaro who turned and twisted but lost control of the ball as Mandar Rao put pressure on him.
However, Mandar Rao’s clearance came off Alfaro and deflected to Lucca who was open in the box. The formed Gaur made no mistake tapping into an empty net. Lucca continued to make a nuisance of himself in the Gaur’s penalty box as time ticked on.
The Gaurs pushed high up in order to grab a goal back and the Stallions counter-attacked with ease but were unable to net a third as the referee called for time on proceedings.
