Mumbai City FC do the Double over FC Goa in Narrow Win at Fatorda

PANJIM:
FC Goa went down to Mumbai City FC 3-4 in a fiercely contested affair at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda. Ferran ‘Coro’ Corominas increased his lead at the top of the goal standings with two more goals, taking his tally to 12 for the season. Lanzarote chipped in with yet another goal as well, taking his tally to eight. For the visitors, Everton Santos, Thiago Santos, Achile Emana and Balwant Singh were on target.
The Gaurs started the match on the front foot, keeping possession of the ball and moving forward well. They were presented with the first chance of the match within the first couple of minutes when Jahouh received the ball in a promising position just outside the box and released an effort at goal.
However, the shot was blocked and the chance was missed. Manuel Lanzarote and Ferran Corominas were linking up well once again but were unable to play that final ball. Sergio’s men had the bulk of the possession and created numerous chances but were unable to convert.
Coro had the chance to give the Gaurs the lead in the 13th minute after Seriton Fernandes barged down the right hand side and put in a low cross at the near post. The Spaniard got to the ball but wasn’t able to direct it goalwards under pressure from the Mumbai defence.
Lanzarote could have given his side the lead five minutes later after Coro played a neat pass to him that set him free on the left side of the box. The midfielder tried to cut the ball back on to his right foot and shoot but the shot was blocked as another chance went amiss.
As the game proceeded, the Gaurs continued to press forward while the Islanders looked to hit them on the counter. They were almost successful around the 33rd minute mark when Balwant Singh received the ball in a good position just outside the box but his tame effort didn’t trouble Laxmikant Kattimani.
The game kicked into life in the 34th minute. Lanzarote took a quick throw in towards Coro who ran at the defence and then passed it sideways to Mandar who darted into the box and shot towards the far post. Amrinder Singh got down well to make the stop but parried the ball into the path of the lurking Coro who tapped home his 11th goal of the campaign.
The lead however, didn’t last long as the Islanders came roaring back. A swift counter-attack saw Achile Emana receive the ball in the box and lay it into the path of Thiago Santos who took a touch and smashed it towards Kattimani. However, the ball took a massive deflection off Everton Santos and beat the goalkeeper.
The Gaurs turned on the pressure soon after and could have re-taken the lead but were denied by smart blocks. Mumbai were also getting a grip on the game and fashioned a couple of chances of their own. However, as the game looked like it would end square at the break, the Gaurs turned it on its head once again.
Brandon played a harmless ball through the Mumbai defence which Sanju Pradhan should have cleared but got a bad touch allowing Mandar through. The Goan winger played the ball across the box where Lanzarote ran on to it and tapped home with seconds of the half left to restore the Gaurs’ lead. Not long after, the referee blew for half time.
It was an extremely eventful start to the second period as the Gaurs picked up where they left off from in the first period. Edu Bedia played Mandar through on the left but the winger’s left footed shot was saved well by Amrinder who got down well to get a leg to it. It was a huge chance for the Gaurs because only minutes later, Seriton Fernandes who was having a fantastic game got show a second yellow for a shirt pull on Thiago Santos.
However, the men in blue kept their attacking instinct up and almost scored a third through Lanzarote who took a stunning right footed curler that was headed towards the far post. But Amrinder dived well to his left to just about get a hand to it.
The Islanders then hit back in the 53rd minute. Ali brought down Sanju Pradhan just inside the area and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Emana stepped up and sent Kattimani the wrong way to restore parity to the game once again. The men from Mumbai were attacking the Gaurs at every opportunity and they were rewarded in the 71st minute when Thiago played Balwant through and continued his run into the box. The striker’s shot was saved but the ball ricocheted to the Brazlian who tapped home easily.
This forced the Gaurs to go on the attack again and they did so with aplomb. They found themselves level in the 78th minute after a brilliant counter-attack when Jahouh picked up the ball in midfield, ran towards goal and fed Coro who made a brilliant run to evade the Mumbai defenders.
The Spaniard still had work to do however and he did so fantastically by lobbing Amrinder from close quarters to bring his side level once more. It continued to remain a very open game in the last ten minutes and the Islanders capitalized on this to score the winner in the 86th minute.
The Goan defence was carved open once more and Kattimani came forward to make the stop. However, he couldn’t make good enough contact on the ball as it deflected towards Balwant making a run in the box. Mandar tracked back in a bid to clear but hit his clearance against Balwant and into the goal.
The Gaurs once again looked for the equalizer and pushed forward with purpose. But they were unable to find another goal through six minutes of stoppage time as Mumbai emerged victorious for the second time this season against the Gaurs.