FC Goa’s Ferran Corominas scored a brace to help his team beat NorthEast United FC by a convincing 5-1 scoreline at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Friday. The two goals took Coro’s Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) goal tally to 28 and saw the Spaniard join Iain Hume as the league’s all-time top goal scorer.

The win helped Goa rise to the third position in the table at the expense of NorthEast. Both teams have 20 points, but the Gaurs have a superior goal difference as well as a match in hand.

  • Ferran Corominas scored the first goal of the match on the 59th minute
  • Edu Bedia and Hugo Boumous scored in quick succession to make it 3-0 in Goa’s favour.
  • Coro scored his second goal of the night on the 84th minute before NorthEast pulled a goal back through Bartholomew Ogbeche.
  • Substitute Miguel Fernandez made it 5-1 deep into stoppage time.

Both sides exhibited a lot of attacking intent in the early stages of the match, but the home team looked the more dangerous of the two sides. Hugo Boumous made a bright start for Goa and almost created the first goal of the match on the 14th minute, as he played in a beautiful cross inside the NorthEast box. Both Coro and Mourtada Fall were inches away from getting the telling contact to divert the ball into the net.

Brandon Fernandes, too, got an early sight of goal but was denied by a cracking block by Gurwinder Singh.

A relentless Goa kept knocking at the door and even managed to get the ball in the net on the 23rd minute. Boumous managed to turn Coro's scuffed toe-poke inside the goal, but the linesman flagged for offside.

The Gaurs had the Highlanders pegged deep in their own half for most of the first-half and the away team was lucky to go into half-time with the scores level at 0-0. Surprisingly, no team managed a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

The second-half got off to a much more controlled start as both sides looked to keep hold of the ball. Ten minutes after the restart, there was a moment of controversy after Goa defender Carlos Pena seemed to have handled the ball inside his own box. Initially, the referee appeared to have given a penalty to NorthEast, but eventually, it turned out to be a foul against the away team.

With the Highlanders feeling hard done by with the decision, things only got worse for them. Goa took the lead on the 59th minute after Coro got on the end of Jackichand's cross from the right. The Spaniard put the chance away acrobatically to score his ninth goal of the season.

Brandon could have doubled the lead nine minutes later, but NorthEast goalkeeper Pawan Kumar did well to deny the Goa no. 10. However, the Gaurs found the all-important second goal just seconds later. Boumous played Edu Bedia through on goal and he complied with an exquisite chipped finish over the goalkeeper.

Two minutes after providing the assist, Boumous turned up inside the box to put his name on the score sheet. He met Brandon’s low cross at full stretch to make it 3-0.

With six minutes of regulation time remaining, Coro scored Goa’s fourth goal of the night after playing a neat one-two pass with Boumous. The goal was the Spaniard’s 28th Hero ISL goal and saw him equal Iain Hume’s record as the league’s all-time top goal scorer.

NorthEast pulled a goal back late in the match through Ogbeche, but Miguel Fernandez restored the Gaurs’ four-goal margin deep into stoppage time.

HERO OF THE MATCH - Ferran Corominas

Coro not only scored the all-important first goal of the match, but also became the joint top scorer in the Hero ISL with his second goal of the match. The ace striker spearheaded the Gaurs’ attack with grace tonight and was named the Hero of the Match.

CLUB AWARDS 

Club Award – FC Goa

Swift Limitless Player of the Match – Hugo Boumous

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Jackichand Singh

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Seriton Fernandes

Hero of the Match – Ferran Corominas

WHAT’S NEXT?

This was both teams’ final match before the winter break kicks in from December 17. Stay tuned for the next round of fixtures to know when they are in action next.

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Related tags:

FC GoaNorthEast United FC 2018-2019Match Report