PANJIM:
After a difficult third season in the Hero Indian Super League where the team finished at the bottom of the league table, the FC Goa squad was overhauled and built from scratch once more before the start of the fourth season of the tournament. Only three members of the squad from season 3 survived to represent the club in season 4. Mandar Rao Dessai and Laxmikant Kattimani were retained by the franchise while Pratesh Shirodkar was picked up during the Hero Indian Super League player draft 2017. With a change in management came change in tactics and change in the style of football employed by the club. Sergio Lobera brought the beautiful style to Goa and as a result, his team have been the most prolific during the league stage of the campaign.
The league started off for the Gaurs with a tough away trip to Chennai to take on a new look Chennaiyin FC who also changed their manager after three seasons. John Gregory built a solid unit spearheaded by Mizo sniper Jeje and backed by defenders Henrique Sereno, Mailson Alves and Inigo Calderon. The Gaurs however, had other ideas and raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with Ferran Corominas, Manuel Lanzarote and Mandar opening the scoring. Coro went down in the history books as the first player to score in this edition of the tournament, the first of many. Despite a spirited second half showing from the home side, FC Goa were able to hold on to their lead to secure the three points. The Gaurs suffered their first loss in their following match away to Mumbai City FC but were back on track against the mighty Bengaluru FC at home. Coro scored his first hat-trick of the tournament to secure a superb 4-3 win over Albert Roca’s side. This victory was followed by an even more emphatic one against Kerala Blasters FC with Coro making history by becoming the first player to secure back to back hat-tricks.
The Gaurs were in peak form and were scoring goals for fun. Delhi Dynamos FC were the next team to be steam rolled as the Gaurs picked up a 5-1 win against the men in white. Sergio’s charges were placed firmly in the top four after their impressive run of form but were pegged back soon after when they failed to pick up a win in their next three outings, losing 2-0 at home to FC Pune City, drawing 1-1 away against ATK and then going down 2-1 to NorthEast United FC in Guwahati. Confidence however, was still running high in the team and they rallied to get back to winning ways, picking up a hard fought 2-1 win against Jamshedpur FC in their next encounter at home. They carried this momentum over to Kerala and took on the men in yellow in their own backyard, beating them 2-1 in front of more than 40,000 home fans. Edu Bedia scored the winner in this game to get his first goal of the tournament.
FC Goa then went on a five game winless run, accruing only two points along the way which seriously jeopardized their chances of making it to the playoff stage of the competition. A home loss to Mumbai City FC was followed by a draw against NorthEast United FC with the side conceding a late equalizer. The Gaurs then travelled to Bengaluru and were beaten 2-0 before a home loss against Chennaiyin FC by a single goal. Thereafter, a late Kalu Uche strike cancelled out Hugo Boumous’ opener to help the side from the capital share the spoils with the Goans. This run of form left Sergio’s men needing 9 points in their last three games of the campaign.
The task was daunting, especially because FC Pune City were a force to reckon with in this season of the competition. The Gaurs however, had other plans and raced away to a thumping 4-0 victory over Ranko Popovic’s side, a feat which gave the team and the rest of Goa hope and confidence. This was also the first clean sheet of the tournament for the side. They then took on a struggling ATK in their next encounter at home. With history against them, the Gaurs charged to a 5-1 mauling of the defending champions before rounding off their league campaign and securing qualification to the knockout round of the competition for the third time in four years with a resounding 3-0 victory over Jamshedpur FC in Jamshedpur. Coro ended the league stage as the highest goal scorer with 18 goals in 18 games, while Manuel Lanzarote scored 12 times. FC Goa also made history by scoring a record 42 goals in 18 games, the highest number of goals scored in the league stage of the competition in the league’s short history.
The Gaurs will take on familiar rivals Chennaiyin FC in the semi-finals of the fourth season of the Hero Indian Super League. The Super Machas edge the Gaurs on head to head records, having won one game more. FC Goa will be looking to reverse this statistic in the two-legged semi-final in a bid to make it to their second final in four tries.
