Goals are guaranteed whenever FC Goa play Mumbai City FC and the story was no different in the first leg of Semi-final 1 at the Fatorda as a 4 goal affair saw both sides share a point each. FC Goa extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches and Mumbai City FC too maintained their unbeaten run against the Gaurs this season.
FC Goa made the first move within the opening 5 minutes as a well created move from Saviour and Ortiz forced Amrinder to make a save. FC Goa had the upper hand during the early stages expectedly they were the first side to break the deadlock.
In the 19th minute, former FC Goa skipper Mandar Rao Desai brought own Jorge Ortiz Mendoza in the penalty box and the following spot kick was smashed past Amrinder by Igor Angulo who scored his 14th goal of the season.
Mumbai approached the game in a different manner after conceding the opening goal and were desperately eyeing an equaliser. Bartholomew Ogbeche’s effort was ruled out by an equally good save from FC Goa’s new custodian Dheeraj Singh and 10 minutes later, Bipin Singh tried his luck from distance but his left footed shot went well wide.
Nevertheless, Mumbai were back in game courtesy of their star man Hugo Boumous who made a comeback into the starting XI following a 4 match suspension. A move that did not look harmful in the beginning turned out to be a camouflage at the end as Boumous sent the ball past Dheeraj as the scoreline read 1-1 going into half-time.
The Islanders came out all guns blazing in the second half and their target man Bartholomew Ogbeche had two chances which he couldn’t convert. His first attempt was a right footed shot that went over the crossbar and the second one was a header that too went over the post.
Just a minute later, Savior Gama made those misses count as he displayed some individual brilliance and scored an amazing goal from distance to make it 2-1 in favour of his side. But, it took just 119 seconds for Sergio Lobera’s side to fight back as Mourtada Fall brought things back on level terms thanks to a pin point cross from Ahmed Jahouh.
Ogbeche couldn’t convert one more chance in the 73rd minute. The ball mostly played in Mumbai City’s half in the closing stages of game which saw a few players going into the referee’s bad books. The match ended in a similar fashion as it began, all square as both sides will have all to play for the second leg.
Hero of the Match – Jorge Ortiz
The Spaniard did not let his side feel the absence of fellow Spainish midfielder Alberto Noguera. He pulled the strings for FC Goa in the middle of park and even looked promising in the final third. He created three chances, completed three successful tackles, one successful interception, one block and several take-ons.
