FC Goa reached the final of the Indian Super League (ISL) by beating Delhi Dynamos 3-0 in the second leg of the semi-final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Tuesday. Goa won the semi-final contest by a 3-1 aggregate margin as strikes from Jofre, Rafael Cohelo and Dudu Omagbemi helped the Ghaurs to overcome the 0-1 deficit.
Coach Zico made as many five changes in his team from the previous match with Mandar Rao Desai, Romeo Fernandes, Rafael , Dudu and Bikramjit Singh in the starting line-up in the place of Narayan Das, Raju Gaikwad, Jonathan Lucca, Reinaldo and CS Sabeeth. The changes did wonders for the team as the hosts made their intentions clear right from the word 'go'.
The first 10 minutes saw a severe onslaught of attacks by the home team and in the 11th minute Spaniard Jofre gave them the breakthrough. Jofre picked up a ball in the right flank and dribbled past John Arene Riise to get a low shot on the goal. The ball took a slight deflection of a Delhi defender which gave Dynamos keeper no chance to save at all.
Goa's second goal came in the 27th minute when striker Rafael Cohelo found a long ball landing on his feet which he shot at the goal avoiding Riise's resistance. Fortunately for Cohelo, the ball struck the corner of the post and went inside the net, doubling Goa's lead.
The final and the third goal of the night came in the 83rd minute when Jofre set up a cross inside the Delhi's box, which found Romeo Fernandes on the other end. The pacy winger cleverly set it up for Dudu who delightfully pushed it into the opposition box.
Compared to the last match, where Goa's defence looked vulnerable and shaky, this time they looked extremely compact and they gave no chance whatsoever to the opposition to score any goals. Lucio, Gregory, Pronay Halder and Mandar briliantly defended valiantly holding their turf which was complemented by goalkeeper Kattimani. In the midfield, Romeo, Jofre and Leo Moura did all the hard work and ensured that FC Goa dominated the midfield battle which certainly bore fruits.
Coming to Delhi Dynamos, they could hardly replicate their previous game's performance in this match. Adil Nabi got a first big chance in the 26th minute when Sehnaj Singh's attempted shot on goal found him but Nabi's shot went wide of target. A big blow came to the Dynamos when their star defender John Arne Riise had to be substituted in the 30th minute due to an injury. Their midfield, consisting of French veteran Florent Malouda and Brazilian Gustavo Dos Santos could not repeat the performance from the previous leg as they were rendered ineffective by a solid Goan defence. Forwards Robin SIngh, Nabi and super-sub Richard Gadze, too, could not do much for their team. Even the half chances which were created did not go Dynamos way. The only hero for the Delhi side was their goalkeeper Toni Doblas who atleast saved sure shot goals on three occasions.
The match was played with high intensity and the physical battle between the two sides went as anticipated. Rough tackles and fouls became a regular scene in the later part of the second half. Referee Pranjal Banerjee had to show eight yellow cards in the match with five of them meant for FC Goa players. The match turned uglier in the 88th minute then already substituted Adil Nabi was given marching orders after he remonstrated with the fourth official.
By Dipayan Saha
