It took two penalties to decide the fate of the match as FC Goa recorded a 2-0 win over Chennaiyin FC at the Marina Arena in Chennai on Thursday evening.
Two penalties in the second half, from Leo Moura and Jonatan Lucca, saw the visitors win comfortably. The three points have taken them to the top of the table once again, and Chennaiyin FC still have ten points.
Stiven Mendoza had a tremendous miss in the 38th minute mark as the Colombian was miraculously off-target from a close range after Elano delivered a great ball from the corner. And that
A lot of set pieces fell for both sides in the half but they failed to make use of any of them. The visitors were mostly relegated to their defensive duties in the half despite having a better possession, and there were hardly any efforts on goal from FC Goa.
Mehrajuddin Wadoo, who had been very decent with his defensive abilities in the half, tried a shot on goal just before the half time, but the ball was too high above the bar. And the next moment itself, the Chennaiyin FC man made a crucial intervention to prevent Thongkhosiem Haokip the space inside the box to score the opener for the visitors.
It was goalless in the half time.
FC Goa star midfielder Leo Moura almost got the opener right after the start of the second half, but Karanjit Singh remained alert as he came off his line to dive parry the ball away with his foot, to make a top save.
The Indian custodian couldn't however prevent the opener of the game in the 64th minute through a powerful penalty that saw the ball travel like a rocket and blast the top corner. The spot kick was awarded to the visitors after Bernard Mendy Brazilian forward Rafael Coelho inside the box.
It couldn't get worse for the home side as the visitors were awarded another penalty in the 78th minute after Rafael's close-range shot on goal once again came off the hand of Wadoo. Jonatan Lucca took the spot kick in this occasion, and slotted the ball comfortably, low into the bottom corner.
And once again, Karanjit dived in the wrong direction.
It couldn't have gone worse for Harmanjot Khabra in the ISL this year as he received a direct red once more just before the 90th minute mark for a dangerous and nasty challenge on Leo Moura. Khabra just returned from his suspension the script couldn't have gone worse for him.
Catch all the goals and the red card from the game HERE.
