Delhi, 06 December 2015: FC Goa rallied back from two goals down to beat Delhi Dynamos FC 3-2 in an exciting Indian Super League (ISL) season 2 clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Delhi, on Sunday evening.
Romeo Fernandes of FC Goa celebrates his first goal of the match
Serginho Green (31’) and Adil Nabi (40’) gave the Lions a 2-0 lead in the first half but the away team scored three goals in the second half via a brace scored by Romeo Fernandes (68’, 69’) and Jofre Mateu Gonzalez (90’) to snatch all three points.
As such, FC Goa leapfrogged Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC to occupy the top spot in the standings with a record 25 points from 14 matches while the Delhi franchise finish their league campaign fourth with 22 points from as many games.
The home team’s player-coach Roberto Carlos made a wholesale number of changes as he rotated seven members in his first team while Zico made four changes to the side that beat Kerala Blasters 5-1.
Elinton Andrade replaced Laxmikant Kattimani in between the sticks after six matches for the Goans. Gregory Arnolin, CS Sabeeth and the suspended Leo Moura made way for Denson Devadas, Dudu Omagbemi and Bikramjit Singh.
There were hardly any chances created in the first 15 minutes other than wayward shots by Nabi and Vinicius Ferreira de Souza while FC Goa hit the target in the 18th minute when Reinaldo da Cruz Oliveira headed a Debabrata Roy cross straight at Delhi goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh.
Anwar Ali side tapped Vinicius’ corner wide of the left post in the 22nd minute. Vinicius missed the target on the right after being released by Florent Malouda.
The former Chelsea man however soon enough got an assist to his name as the free-kick whipped in by Malouda was headed home by Greene in the 31st minute.
The Dynamos kept the pressure on the visitors as Robin Singh forced a save from Andrade at his left near post. In what could almost turn into an own goal, Pronay Halder’s attempted clearance came off Robin and almost beat Andrade but for the Brazilian custodian to prevent the ball from crossing the goalline in the 38th minute.
Two minutes later, the entire Goan defense was beaten when a move initiated by Robin saw Richard Gadze setup Nabi who implemented a calm finish to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Dudu Omagbemi tested Ghosh who made a comfortable save while Reinaldo headed Jofre’s cross from the left above the goal as Zico’s side had to walk into the tunnel with a two goal deficit.
Five minutes into the second half, FC Goa had another chance to pull back a goal but Dudu blasted his shot straight down the throat of Ghosh who denied Dudu again in another one-on-one opportunity in which Reinaldo’s endeavor off the rebound was denied by John Arne Riise with his goalkeeper already committed.
All of a sudden, FC Goa were level with a quick double by Romeo Fernandes. In the 68th minute, Reinaldo swapped the ball from left to right for the Goan, who had substituted Debabrata. Romeo rifled a powerful left footer that beat Ghosh despite a touch by the Delhi goalkeeper.
In the very next minute, Jofre played on Reinaldo and the Brazilian in turn spotted the run of Romeo who made it 2-2 with a tap in.
Dudu’s 72nd minute attempt was blocked by Ghosh and the Nigerian’s goal in the next minute was flagged offside.
Nabi followed up with a couple of chances down the other end as the Englishman was denied by Andrade once and headed wide in the 81st minute after being released by Robin.
FC Goa completed a successful comeback in the final minute of regulation time. Jofre took a pass from Jonatan Lucca and raced past Anwar Ali, cut past the Delhi goalkeeper and scored the winner with great composure.
Tags: Delhi Dynamos FC, FC Goa, Indian Football, Indian Super League, ISL, ISL 2015, Sports
