ISL 2019: Clinical FC Goa punish wasteful Mumbai City in a Goal Fest

FC Goa continued their top form as they got past a hapless and inconsistent Mumbai City side in the Indian Super League at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai on Thursday to run out 4-2 winners. FC Goa started the game on a steady note and allowed Mumbai City to come on to them but they eventually grew back into the game. With two goals in the first half, FC Goa looked to emerge as straight winners but Mumbai City did get back into the game and made it 2-2 early in the second half. However, FC Goa hit back in instantaneous fashion and scored two more goals in the latter part of the second-half to register a comfortable win.

Mumbai City were using both the wings at tandem in the initial exchanges. Bipin Singh was seen getting past his markers on both the flanks and was delivering-in some good crosses which kept the FC Goa defence busy. Mohamed Larbi had the first shot of the game when he drove a set-piece goal-bound but the end result was a shot well wide of the target in the 12th minute. Mumbai City were playing extremely high and piled on the pressure on the visitors but could not really crack open the FC Goa defence.

FC Goa slowed down the pace of the game to break the momentum of Mumbai City and resorted to build-ups from the back. FC Goa got their first chance of the game when Ferran Corominas set up Jackichand Singh for a shot and the latter's shot was blocked for a corner. The resultant corner led to the first goal of the game as Lenny Rodrigues found the back of the net with a deft touch to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute. Mumbai City could not really recover and FC Goa kept dictating terms in the midfield. The Gaurs made it 2-0 at the stroke of half-time when a through ball from Hugo Boumous towards Seriton Fernandes found Ferran Corominas in the box who scored with ease.

Mumbai City had a sudden change of tactics in the second half. The Islanders looked to earn more corners with long shots. One such corner to the far post found Sarthak Golui who headed it in to pull one back for the home side in the 49th minute. The Islanders continued their hunt for the equaliser and were rewarded in quick time. A clearance from Mourtada Fall was chested down brilliantly by Raynier Fernandes to setup Souvik Chakrabarti outside the FC Goa box to take the shot. Chakrabarti drove it low and hard and cancelled out the deficit to make it 2-2 in the 54th minute.

Just as it looked like Mumbai City running away with the game. FC Goa hit back in no time against the run of play when a brilliantly constructed set-piece from the middle of the park was put home. Jahouh's indirect free-kick was headed in-wards by Mourtada Fall towards Boumous who slots it home to restore FC Goa's lead in the 59th minute. FC Goa's resolute and disciplined defensive midfield never allowed Mumbai City to hit back the visitors. A very compact midfield led by Lenny Rodrigues cut off every Mumbai City move to keep the scores unchanged. FC Goa finally put the game to bed when Carlos Pena scored the fourth with a flick-on from a low ball from the right flank in the 89th minute.

With this win, FC Goa go top of the table while Mumbai City stay on 5th. The Gaurs will now host Jamshedpur FC on 26 November while the Islanders visit NorthEast United on 27 November after the International break.