It was a goal fest at Goa’s Tilak Maidan Stadium as FC Goa (FCG) beat SC East Bengal (SCEB) 4-3 in an Indian Super League (ISL) match. It was a match that the defenders of both the teams would want to forget very soon. Goa secured their first ISL victory of the season and on the other hand, for East Bengal misery seems to be unending. The Kolkata giants have already conceded 14 goals in five matches and are yet to get the taste of first ISL victory of the season.
It might have been a bottom-table clash of ISL but the style and result of the match in no way whatsoever turned out to be of low quality. Goa enjoyed a whopping ball possession of 65 per cent with a clinical passing accuracy of 83 per cent. They had five shots on target whereas East Bengal managed to hit four shots on target.
Goa scored their first goal of the match in the 14th minute. Goa’s Spanish midfielder Alberto Noguera took a shot from 30-odd yards out and the ball went into the top of the net. Three minutes later FC Goa got a chance to secure a two-goal lead but Jorge Ortiz could not hit the shot on target.
East Bengal got a golden chance to earn the equaliser in the 19th minute but midfielder Bikash Jairu failed to score despite getting Goa goalkeeper Dheeraj Moirangthem one-on-one.
12 minutes later East Bengal did get the highly-coveted equaliser. Striker Antonio Perosevic’s stunning shot found the back of the net after hitting the right post. Goa got their lead back in 32nd minute. Jorge Oritz slotted the penalty into the bottom of the right corner.
But there was no end to the drama as East Bengal pulled off the second equaliser of the night after Slovenian Amir Dervisevic’s free kick dipped in front of the keeper. No Goa defender was there to avert the danger and eventually the ball went into the net.
The deadlock could have remained in the half time but a costly error from East Bengal striker Perosevic led to an own goal in 44th minute.
Second half started in the same fashion and it just took East Bengal 14 minutes to get the third equaliser of the night. Striker Perosevic scored his second goal of the match. A poor ball from Goa midfielder Glan Martins led to a counter-attack as Perosevic nicely controlled the ball and calmly slammed it into the back of the net.
In the 79th minute Goa took the lead after Alberto Noguera scored his second goal of the match. This win helped Goa to overcome East Bengal on the league table and now the Red and Gold brigade remain at the 11th spot.
