FC Goa edged Chennaiyin FC in a seven-goal thriller to win 3-4 and leapfrog ATK to the top of the Indian Super League table at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. The Gaurs started their blitzkrieg right from the first half as Ahmed Jahouh opened the scoring at the 26th minute followed by a goal from Brandon Fernandes in 41st minute and lastly Hugo Boumous also found the target later in the dying moments of the first half. Chennaiyin FC showed character and spirit to come back in the second half as Andre Schembri and Rafael Crivellaro scored twice in a space of two minutes to restore some faith back in the game.
A late Ferran Corominas strike fizzled out everything in the end for the Marina Machans, but Crivellaro pulled another one back in injury time to end it on a high. But Edwin Vanspaul’s red card made things easier for the Gaurs to hold onto to their lead.
Owen Coyle’s men started with a lot of panache in attack as Crivellaro and Nerijus Valskis combined really well in the final third putting FC Goa under the pump. A great backheel from the Brazilian created a great opening for Chennaiyin at the edge of the box but it was well intercepted and cleared by the Gaurs and it failed to find Valskis who was on a surging run into the box.
But gradually FC Goa took control of the midfield and dictated terms with Chennaiyin losing possession and allowing Ferran Corominas to progress with the ball and pass it towards Boumous of the right, who crossed it towards Jahouh, who was clear on goal and made no mistake to tuck it past an onrushing Vishal Kaith in goal.
The Gaurs struck again as Lucian Goian misplaced a pass from Germanpreet Singh’s pass and gave it away to Brandon Fernandes in the final third who made no mistake to double the lead.
Sergio Lobera’s men piled up the misery when Jackichand Singh’s cross from the right flank bamboozled the whole Chennaiyin defence and reached Boumous who was at the right spot to tap it home. The visitors went to the break with a massive 0-3 lead.
However, the two times champions might have had a great halftime talk as they pulled back twice in a space of two minutes to keep the home crowd intrigued.
Poor defending from Goa led to the first goal as the Gaurs failed to clear Crivellaro’s inswing delivery from the flag-kick and the ball reached Schembri in the box who made no mistake to pull one back. Slowly Lallianzuala Chhangte also started having a huge impact in the game, as he got the better of Seriton Fernandes and tucked it towards Valskis, who took control of the loose ball and squared it to Crivellaro in space, the Brazilian’s shot rifled past Mohammed Nawaz to bring back the life at the Marine Arena.
However, the spirited second-half onslaught did not last for long for the hosts, as Hugo Boumous pierced the Chennaiyin defence via a through ball and it reached Ferran Corominas who beat the offside trap and opened up his body to curl it past Vishal Kaith. That was the killer blow for the hosts.
Chennaiyin kept going as Nawaz’s weak fist from a corner landed in Anirudh Thapa’s path, who headed it towards Crivellaro and the Brazilian in top form controlled it and struck brilliantly into the corner of the net to finish the game on a high. Edwin Vanspaul was sent off after getting into a tussle in the chaotic last few minutes between both the sides, as FC Goa climbed back to the top of the table.
