FC Goa defeated Mohun Bagan Super Giant 4-1 in the 2023-24 Indian Super League at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) in Kolkata on Saturday.
Noah Sadaoui netted a brace as Victor Rodriguez and Carlos Martinez scored one each as the Gaurs outclassed the Mariners.
A lot of history between the managers, Juan Ferrando and Manolo Marques, preceded the encounter.
The football too did not disappoint.
After a few measured barbs in the opening minutes, it was the away side that drew first blood. In the 8th minute, Manvir Singh appeared ot have handled a shot from Odei Onaindia inside his penalty box as the referee had no choice to hand FC Goa a spot kick. Noah Sadaoui stepped up and slotted the ball past Vishal Kaith to hand the Gaurs the lead in the 10th.
The Mariners were rocked and looked to get back level almost immediately. A few free-kicks offered chances that went begging. FC Goa, too, tried to double their lead with a few coming close too.
Either dug out egged the players on to get the next goal, which would determine their next course of action.
As the half drew to a close, Victor Rodriguez obliged for FC Goa. In the 42nd minute, a brilliant move from Brandon Fernandes and Udanta Singh combined well in the build-up with another one-touch pass between Carl McGugh and Victor meant the latter could volley first time to double their lead.
Goa were not done as Noah scored the second of the night in added time after 45. The forward cut back inside the box from the left flank to get a right footed shot away into the bottom right corner.
Mariners were at sea.
Less than two minutes later, Armando Sadiku was felled as Dimitri Petratos set the ball down, readying for a free-kick. The Aussie star’s powerful shot aimed at the top left corner left Arsdeep Singh hopeless. At the end of the first half, the visitors still had a two-goal cushion.
For the restart, Ferrando opted to go for it, making two attacking changes. After nothing changed in the next 15 minutes, in terms of the scoreline, he made two more.
FC Goa, on the other hand, were doing most of the attacking as Noah got two chances to get his hat-trick saved heroically by Vishal.
The changes for Mohun Bagan, the fifth one done around the 70 minutes mark, meant structure and shape went out the window. Ferrando’s sorrow compounded when Brendan Hamill hobbled off. The Mariners were playing effectively with 10 men, even without the referee being involved.
Meanwhile, FC Goa were happy to keep the ball and pass it around and allow the opposition to self-implode.
Mariners were not able to string together more than a couple of passes when they were not scurrying back to fall into some sense of defensive structure.
Manolo finally decided to slow down the game, content with the state of play of their opposition.
In the 90th minute, another mistake inside the penalty box led to the referee awarding another penalty. Anirudh Thapa had failed to control the ball and brought down substitute Savior Gama. Another new face, Carlos Martinez stepped up and slotted the fourth goal for FC Goa.
In the end, Manolo was seen clapping and encouraging his players, while Ferrando cut a sorry figure on the touchline.
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