Margao: FC Goa turned on the style in the second half, drubbing NorthEast United FC 5-1 in an entertaining Hero Indian Super League clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday.
Ferran Corominas grabbed a brace (59′, 84′) to equal Iain Hume’s tally of 28 goals as the all-time highest scorer in the ISL.
Edu Bedia (69′), Hugo Bumous (71′) and Miguel Palanca (90+1′) also got on the scoresheet for Goa, while Bartholomew Ogbeche (90) scored a consolation for the visitors.
The win sees Goa climb to the third spot on the table with 20 points from 11 games, a place above NorthEast United.
FC Goa started the game well, keeping hold of the ball well and looking to get in behind the NorthEast United defence. They had a chance in the very first minute when a poor touch from Gurwinder Singh allowed Jackichand Singh to get a shot away which hit the side-netting.
Boumous, who was finding a lot of space to operate, then saw Coro and Mourtada Fall fail to get a touch to his inviting cross into the box. Despite sustained intent from the Gaurs, NorthEast hung on and slowly grew into the game. Though they did create a couple of half-chances towards the end of the first half, nothing concrete came off them.
However, they improved after the break and should have taken the lead in the 54th minute when Federico Gallego played Redeem Tlang through on goal. The winger eased past Mandar Rao Dessai and reached the byline.
But he could not control the ball and ended up rolling it towards goalkeeper Mohammed Nawaz, who cleared it for a corner. Goa were fortunate to escape an appeal for a handball inside the box but Sergio Lobera’s team responded by surging into the lead in the 59th minute.
Jackichand was afforded space down the right wing and his cross was acrobatically turned in by Coro to end his goal drought. That strike opened the floodgates as Goa found their freescoring ways again. Edu Bedia slipped past Gurwinder Singh in the 69th minute before executing a delightful chip to make it 2-0.
Brandon Fernandes’ low cross was expertly steered home by Boumous two minutes later as NorthEast United looked stunned. With confidence seeping through them, Goa had the time to get another goal.
This time, Boumous was the provider with a good ball across the box and Coro tapped in his 10th goal of the campaign.
Ogbeche’s late consolation goal for NorthEast United, however, would not dampen the party in Goa as Miguel Palanca added a fifth for the Gaurs after a surging run into the box in injury time. (PTI)
