A stoppage time Ferran Corominas penalty helped FC Goa salvage a point against reigning Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) champions Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Monday. It was the Blues who dominated the majority of the contest and even took the lead in the second-half, but had to settle for a draw after the late equaliser by the home team.

  • Bengaluru dominated the match in the first-half but couldn’t find a goal to show for it.
  • Udanta Singh finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute.
  • Ferran Corominas scored from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time to make it 1-1.

Bengaluru showed most of the urgency in the early exchanges, pegging Goa on the backfoot – a very unfamiliar predicament for the Gaurs at home. The Gaurs, however, began feeling their way into the match after a tumultuous first 15 minutes but it was the Blues who continued to ask most of the questions.

The reigning champions came close to taking the lead on the 39th minute as Dimas Delgado’s curling free kick from the left eluded a crowd of players, including Goa goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz, and seemed to be sneaking in. Seiminlen Doungel, however, had taken up a good position to head the ball out of danger.

The very entertaining and perhaps one-sided half of football ended with the score 0-0.

The second period saw a similar trend to the first-half, with Bengaluru taking the offensive but the Goa backline held fort, with Mourtada Fall rallying the troops at the heart of the Gaurs’ defence. For Bengaluru, the highlight had been the workrate and pressing put in by Dimas Delgado and Raphael Augusto in central midfield.

As the hour-mark approached, Goa tried to break the shackles with Corominas getting into the match far more than he did in the first fifty-or-so minutes of the match. However, the deadlock was finally broken on the 62nd minute by the away side. A Gurpreet Singh Sandhu goal kick was flicked on by Manuel Onwu and Udanta outran Fall to get to the ball first. With only Nawaz to beat, the winger made no mistakes and slotted it home to make it 0-1.

The goal definitely drew a reaction from the Gaurs as they carved out an opportunity to pull it right back after Corominas found himself on the end of a Brandon Fernandes corner. Gurpreet got in the way of his shot and the goal but the offside flag was already up. Shortly after, Fall tried his luck with a header but couldn’t quite keep his effort on target.

The game had opened up considerably and the Blues seemed to be heading for a two-goal lead when Udanta almost played in Sunil Chhetri, but an outstretched Seriton Fernandes cleared the danger in the final stages of the move culminating to its desired result.

Sergio Lobera introduced Jackichand Singh for the final 20 minutes in an attempt to change the narrative. Goa threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the visitors for the final 15 minutes to try and salvage something out of the match and the endeavours paid off right at the dying minutes of stoppage time after Ashique Kuruniyan’s mistimed tackle on Corominas earned the home team a penalty. The Spaniard sent Gurpreet the wrong way and brought Goa level right at the end. The home side could have even nicked it with the final move of the match as Jacki bombed down the flanks and played in a delightful cross to find Doungel. The 25-year-old’s header, however, went wide and both sides had to settle for a draw.

Hero of the Match – Udanta Singh

Udanta Singh’s pace and direct running down the flanks helped Bengaluru keep Goa on the backfoot for the majority of the tie. The nippy winger also chipped in with the first goal of the match to hand his team the advantage. He was named the Hero of the Match.

AWARDS

Club Award – FC Goa and Bengaluru FC

Maruti Suzuki Limitless Player of the Match – Ferran Corominas

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Manuel Onwu

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Ashique Kuruniyan

Hero of the Match – Udanta Singh

Watch the match highlights here:

Related tags:

Bengaluru FCFC Goa 2019-2020Match Report