Originally published in The Times of India on December 31, 2020
Hyderabad: A ruthless FC Goa scored twice from just two shots on target as they came back from a goal down to defeat Hyderabad FC 2-1 at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Wednesday.
Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the match, Goa made their chances count as substitute Ishan Pandita and Igor Angulo delivered late strikes to cancel Hyderabad striker Aridane Santana’s header.
Goa had the first chance on goal when they won a free-kick in the early minutes. Brandon Fernandes delivered a promising ball into the box, and James Donachie missed an easy header as the referee blew the whistle for a foul.
Goa ratcheted up the pressure, keeping ball possession and throwing players on the attack. On the other hand, Hyderabad tried to create attacks by winning the ball higher up the field, with Aridane attacking Goa’s first line of defence.
The end-to-end game saw multiple chances being created, but the teams were lacking in the final-third as both were defensively well-organized.
Goa’s Jorge Mendoza threatened when he embarked on a dangerous solo run, and was stopped in his tracks by a sliding tackle from Chinglesana Singh. Moments later, Fernandes delivered a cross into the box, but Igor Angulo headed the ball over the goalpost.
The second-half saw a furious start as Hyderabad’s Akash Mishra launched on a solo run, cutting inside on his right before shooting a curling shot just wide of goal.
Aridane broke the deadlock at the hour mark as Hyderabad exploited Goa’s weakness while dealing with set pieces. Right-back Rai delivered a precise cross towards the box from the right-flank and the Spaniard rose highest, fending off Donachie to deposit a powerful header past Goa keeper Mohammad Nawaz.
Ortiz had a chance to equalize for Goa when Fernandes delivered a cross towards him from the right-flank, but the No. 9 missed the ball by inches.
A lively Aridane put the ball inside the net with a back header shortly after, which was ruled out by the assistant referee for offside.
Goa substitute Ishan Pandita made instant impact as he delivered a header into the net thanks to Bedia’s curling free-kick three minutes before the end of regulation time.
Building upon the breakthrough, Angulo scored the winner in injury time as he took Ortiz’s through-ball, feinted past Odei Onaindia and deposited a shot inside the net, defeating Hyderabad keeper Kattimani.
Despite late attempts on goal by Fran Sandaza and Lluis Sastre, Hyderabad slumped to their third successive defeat and remained at the 8th position in the ISL table, while Goa climbed to the 3rd position.
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