Ruthless Goa cruise into final after 3-0 win over I-League champions Chennai City FC

by Chittu Shetty April 10, 2019

FC Goa put on a ruthless display to beat Hero I-League 2018-19 champions Chennai City FC 3-0 in the first semi-final of the Hero Super Cup 2019 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

The result sends the Gaurs through to the final of the knockout tournament, where they will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between ATK and Chennaiyin FC. The loss also brought an end to Chennai City’s brilliant run in the tournament, which saw them knock out FC Pune City and Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 champions Bengaluru FC.

Highlights of the Game:

• Ferran Corominas scored from the penalty spot on the 26^th minute to put Goa in front.
• The Spaniard struck again nine minutes later to double the advantage.
• Brandon Fernandes added his name to the score sheet to make it 3-0 on the 69^th minute.

With Edu Bedia out with a suspension, Hugo Boumous was drafted into the FC Goa starting XI by head coach Sergio Lobera. Chennai City boss Akbar Nawas, on the other hand, made two changes to the team which started the quarter-final tie against Bengaluru FC. Charles Lourdusamy came in for the suspended Michael Regin in midfield, while Alexander Romario Jesuraj was handed a start in place of Ameerudeen Haja.

The Gaurs came out with a positive mindset and their quick silky passing pegged Chennai back, barely giving the Hero I-League 2018-19 champions a sniff of the ball. Seriton Fernandes and Zaid Krouch came close to scoring in the first 15 minutes. The former’s shot at goal was deflected wide while Krouch’s deflected shot from range needed a fingertip save from Chennai custodian Mauro Boerchio to stay out.

Goa kept on turning the screws and their dominance finally paid off on the 25th minute as Jacki found Ferran Corominas in the box. With the Spaniard’s back turned towards the goal, Charles skipped the gun and clattered into Coro, leaving the referee with no choice but to point towards the spot. Boerchio denied Sunil Chhetri from the penalty spot in their last match, but no one seemed to have told Coro that, who calmly executed an audacious Panenka to beat the Italian.

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Chennai City tried to up the ante to find a quick equaliser, but it was Goa who found the second goal. The Jacki-Coro partnership was at the centre of the move yet again. The Indian winger whipped in a cross from the right, which took a deflection off Sriram B. The ball kindly fell for Coro, who did extremely well to make the space for a shot and beat Boerchio again with a low angled shot.

The first half ended with the Gaurs holding a well-deserved two-goal advantage.

Chennai City began the second half on the front foot and threw numbers forward in search of a way back into the game. Chennai were in desperate need for a goal and almost found one through Romario Jesus on the 66^th minute. The nippy winger skipped past multiple challenges and pulled the trigger from 30-yards-out. Unfortunately for Chennai, the ball came off the top of the crossbar.

Three minutes later, things got worse for Nawas and Co. Boumous received the ball in the midfield and set Brandon Fernandes free. The winger put on his afterburners, ran onto the through pass and calmly slotted it past Boerchio to make it 3-0 for Goa.

As the game progressed, Sergio Lobera’s men created ample opportunities to make the scoreline far more imposing, but a bit of bad luck, some last-ditch defending and a few terrific saves from Boerchio helped Chennai avoid any further blushes. The match ended 3-0 in Goa’s favour.

Post-match Conference:

At the post-match press conference, Goa’s assistant coach Jesus Tato along with goal scorer Corominas were present to share their thoughts on the match. Talking about the performance of the players, Tato said, “Before the game, we knew Chennai City are a team with a lot of potential. We outplayed them easily as the score can tell. But at the end of the day, it was the players who displayed it on the pitch. We really worked hard towards this game. I must give all the credit to the players.”

Coro, who scored a brace on the night, got plenty of opportunities to score a hat-trick but missed out eventually. Asked if he was disappointed with not scoring a third, the Spaniard said, “As a striker, you always want to score goals. Today I would have liked to score a hat-trick, but regardless of who scores, the most important thing is that the team wins. I will always do my best for the team.”

From Chennai City’s end, Akbar Nawas had no qualms admitting that they were the second-best team on the night. “I think the right word is overhauled. We gave them too much respect from the first half. We were too deep. This has got a lot to do with maturity and experience. FC Goa gave us a good footballing experience and we should really strive now to play the way they are playing,” he stated.

Hero of the Match – Saviour Gama

Despite the Goa attack turning on the style in the match, Goa’s young left back Saviour Gama was the pick of the Gaurs marauding on the pitch. The 21-year-old was fantastic and patrolled the left flank with authority, snuffing out any Chennai City advances with ease. The pacey defender also steamed forward every opportunity he got and made some crucial contributions in the opposition third.

– Courtesy AIFF media

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