Brison Fernandes’ goals took FC Goa to the third spot on the table
Margao: At least for the next few weeks, the Indian Super League (ISL) title race won’t be a procession.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant
were threatening to leave everyone behind in the race for the coveted Shield, but the defending champions were pegged back by a determined, or as coach
Manolo Marquez
would say, motivated FC Goa at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Friday.
Goals in either half from local boy
Brison Fernandes
helped Goa hand Mohun Bagan their first defeat in nine games and stretch their own unbeaten run to seven. Dimitrios Petratos kept his record of scoring against Goa – he has now scored in the last four games – with a second-half penalty to end his six-match ISL goal drought, but the hosts survived the onslaught from the opponents for the last quarter.
The win took Goa to third on the table with 22 points at the end of the first phase, with Bagan now on top with 26. Bengaluru FC are sandwiched between the two teams, separated by two points at either end.
Asked by TOI during the pre-match media interaction if he’d continue with his policy of making changes for every game, Manolo smiled, before confirming, “sure, it won’t be the same lineup.” The Spanish coach took many by surprise with four changes, all in the front, with Armando Sadiku, Borja Herrera, Mohammad Yasir and Brison all handed a starting spot.
Bagan coach Jose Molina fielded the same team that came from behind to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat against Kerala Blasters.
It were Goa who nosed ahead in the 12th minute, though with a little bit of luck, from a throw-in. Brison picked up a ball from Borja on the edge of the box, sidestepped Ashish Rai and then took aim at goal, the ball hitting Tom Aldred’s outstretched legs and sailing into the goal, past a wrong-footed Vishal Kaith.
A goal down, Bagan hardly pressed the panic button. With a squad like the one they have, and given their record in this competition, they didn’t have to. Petratos, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and Jamie MacLaren all kept pushing upfront, only to be met by fierce resistance from the likes of Odei Onaindia and Sandesh Jhingan.
Yasir tested Kaith from distance, and when he floated the ball inside the box, Borja and Brison both missed to connect.
Goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari remained calm for Goa, though his only save in the opening 45 minutes was to grab a header from Aldred.
Early in the second session, the young Goa goalkeeper dived low to brilliantly keep away a fierce volley from Sahal Abdul Samad.
Bagan were pushing forward and were not surprisingly back in the game in the 54th minute after Goa conceded a penalty. Sadiku was adjudged to have handled the ball, falling low to clear the ball. The hosts protested, boos went all around the stadium, but referee Crystal John remained unmoved.
Then Petratos stepped up to pick the top corner to beat Hrithik, even though the keeper had guessed correctly.
Goa went ahead for the second time in the game through Brison in the 67th minute. If the first goal had an element of luck with the deflection, this time he timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap, and then finish Borja’s inch-perfect cross with a smart low header.
For the next half an hour, which included seven minutes of stoppage time, Goa defended in numbers, earning themselves three points and a week’s rest, before resuming their campaign in the new year.
“It’s for the first time in five years (since coming to India) that I can be at home for Christmas,” Manolo said after the win, his team’s fifth in six games.
Not just for Manolo, it’s Merry Christmas for everyone in Goa.
English (US) ·