FC Goa managed to climb up the league tally from eighth to the seventh position after defeating FC Pune City at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Stadium, Pune. Both teams were placed at bottom of the league table but after this match, FC Goa has spared themselves from being the least performing team of ISL 2016.
FC Pune City and FC Goa wanted to put an end to their miserable performance and both the teams were looking out for a victory. FC Pune started the match on the front foot and the team saw a lot of ball during the initial stage of the match but nobody was able to deliver the end product.
However, FC Goa also looked solid at the start as the ‘Gaurs’ was seen breaching the home side’s defence effortlessly. Goa’s first chance at the goal came in the 10th minute when FC Pune City players lost the ball, giving Joffre Mateu an opportunity to score a goal. He got into a good position but his shot went wide and high from the goalpost.
Rafael Coelho also got a chance in the 23rd minute when he shot a Romeo Fernandes pass towards the goalpost but Sissoko palmed the ball with ease and prevented FC Goa from taking the lead.
FC Goa eventually took the lead in the 32nd minute when Joffre won a free kick just outside Pune City’s box after he was brought down by Augustine Fernandes. The crowd was stunned when their home team was subjected to a free kick and that too, just outside the box. The stadium hoped for a miracle but nothing like that happened because Joffre’s precise kick went straight in the goalpost and the goalkeeper never had a chance to stop the ball.
FC Pune City was very close to scoring the equaliser moments before half-time when Jonatan Lucca danced his way through many Goa players while cutting in from the left and shot the ball towards the post. The strike was successfully blocked by Kattimani.
The game went into halftime with FC Goa being in the lead by 1-0.
Tato was the one who created the first chance for his team in the second half when he sent a curling ball from the right side towards Gouramangi Moirangthem. Moirangthem managed to receive the ball and headed it towards the goalpost but the shot went wide of the target.
The ball was still seen traveling from one Pune player to the other in the second half but the team was not able to score an equaliser in the whole session. However, there were many instances when FC Pune City came very close to scoring a goal.
The referee whistled to end the game and FC Goa came out victorious and FC Pune City was demoted to the last position in the league tally.
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4 November 2016
Rohan Jaitly