Goa thrashes Odisha 6-1 as skipper Victorino hits a Hat-trick of goals and assists!

by Spandan Paul March 26, 2018

26^th March’18,Kolkata : Goa salvaged their dreams of qualifying to the semi final and turned around their woeful 72^nd Santosh Trophy campaign by registering a huge 6-1 victory over Odisha.

Goan Captain Victorino Fernandez lead from the front scoring a hat-trick and assisting all the other three goals scored by Mackroy Peixoto,Shubert Pereira and Marcus Mascarenhas while Odisha managed to find the back of the net only once in the 16th minute through their midfielder Sunil Sardar!

Goa looked very much in control from the beginning as they got their first clear chance in the 13^th minute through Nestor Dias the U21 winger who snatched the possession for Goa as they got two succesive corners. The first one was saved at the near post as the second one opened the floodgates!

It was in the 15^th minute from that second corner taken by Mackroy Peixoto  that saw a header flick by his captain Victorino Fernandez cleared  by Kartik, but after the ball crossed the goalline and  linesman was spot on to declare it as a goal.

Odisha replied back with vengeance just a minute later and scored through Sunil Sardar who connected a brilliant left footer volley after cross from Arpan Lakra was headed down by Bhabagrahi Padhihary.

Goa continued to dominate thereafter as  Victorino’s long range looping attempt from right took the Odisha goalie by surprise after the drinks break on a humid Monday afternoon. Fortunate for him it missed the top corner of the crosspiece.

Odisha had a rare chance in the 40^th minute when Arpan Lakra sprinted down the left flank from a long ball and his square aerial pass towards right missed all- defenders,goalie and his captain Arjun Nayak whose touch would’ve seen him score in front of an open net!

First change for Goa came in the 1^st added minute of the first half as Shubert Pereira came in place of Shallum Pires as they seemed to change  the gear in pursuit of an all important lead going into the break. Their persistence paid off just 2 minutes down the added injury time when Nestor Dias provided a brilliant assist from left corner sideline taking out 2 defenders, to his skipper Victorino Fernandez. He should’ve scored with his first touch but had enough time to put it into open net by his second touch.

After the break it was Odisha who got the first threatening chance in the 50^th minute when they got  freekick afer a foul by Mackroy on Arbin Lakra in a dangerous position. Rudra Prasad’s curling cross from the resulted freekick was affected by a nice outing at the perfect time by the Goan goalie.

But Goa was determined to score and got their third as  Victorino completed the hattrick after a nice assist from Clinton Niasso from left in the 54^th minute. Just a minute earlier Kapil had missed a glorious opportunity.

Odisha sensing the situation had Sourav Hanuman coming in place of Arbin Lakra to save any more embarrasments for them, by bolstering the defence.

But it didn’t pay any dividends for Odisha as they conceded another goal in the 59^th minute. No. 7 Mackroy Piexoto got into the scoresheet with Victorino returning the favour with a brilliant back flick from outside of the box as it sailed over the backline to catch Mackroy; who took the trigger run long ago and scored past the goalkeeper to make it 4-1 for Goa.

Mackroy again got an appealing chance in the 63^rd minute when he got a long ball from his defence and kept a lob over the custodian and the defence, which kissed the crosspiece on its way out. Clinton Niaaso made way for Marcus Mascarenhas in the fronline for Goa, immediately after the chance!

Goa scored again in the 71^st minute. It was another substitute Shubert Pereira who scored after getting a forward lay off by Victorino Fernanendez and dealt a massive blow to Odisha’s strategy of keeping a high backline.

Goa continued to dominate and created a lot of chance as it was evident that they had a scoreline in their mind. But Odisha got a rare opportunity when Goan defender Mathew Gonsalves provided double block to a nicely built-up Odisha attack.

Yellow card shown to Odisha keeper Ezajuddin Khan in the 82^nd minute when he handled the ball just outside D-Box and a freekick was  awarded to Goa from a  dangerous position to which Victorino rammed it into the bar post again!

But he was not going to stop the rummage as he was again at the forefront of the 6^th goal for Goa .Super substitute Marcus Mascarenhas scored from a Victorino Fernendez assist in the same manner the  last 3 goals have been scored.

Goa could’ve scored their 7th goal just a minute prior to the stipulated full time  as Victorino received a brilliant through from Marcus but tried to score alone . The Rebound fell to Mackroy whose shot was dealt with a goalline save by Shahnawaaz Alam!

Goa kept on looking for their 7^th goal in vain as they completed a rout of Odisha who suffered their their 4^th loss in as many outings and bowed out of the tournament. Goa with the help of this win stays in contention for a semi-final spot as they need to win their last encounter against Punjab provided Karnataka doesn’t win from here on.