A trip to Goa ended in a frustrating night for The Islanders as they were victim to a thumping 5-0 defeat to an attacking performance from the home side despite creating plenty of chances for themselves.
Mumbai City FC enjoyed possession early on as Goa looked comfortable to let them attack. The home side look dangerous on the counter as usual. Subhasish got an early chance but his first touch wasn’t up to the mark and he side footed the ball over the crossbar. In the next minute, a whooping cross found Arnold who mistimed his volley only to give away the possession. Goa made the most of it and started a counter attack. Hugo Boumous carried the ball and found Ferran Corominas to his left as Souvik Chakrabarti’s late challenge saw Mumbai City FC give away a penalty in the early minutes of the match.
Ferran Corominas took the responsibility from the spot and scored a peach of a penalty. He sent Amrinder to his left but the Goa striker calmly chipped the ball down the centre into the roof of the net and took the lead.
Mumbai City FC continued their onslaught and created a few chances from the crossing style of play. A brilliant cross from Arnold’s outer foot found Lucian in the six-yard box but the central defender couldn’t get the ball on target and he skied it over the crossbar.
The Islanders looked sharp with the ball but failed to convert their chances in the final third. Subhasish played a defence splitting pass to find Rafael Bastos who took on the shot first time only to strike the ball across the face of goal. The home side themselves did not sit back for long as they saw a fair share of chances as well. The counter attacks continued and this time Hugo cut in from the left and unselfishly laid the ball for incoming Jackichand Singh. He struck the ball from his weaker foot but Amrinder made a good save, full stretched to his left at the far post.
In the closing minutes of the first half, the home team got a couple more good chances through Coro and Hugo but did not make the most of it as they headed into the second half with just the one goal lead.
It wasn’t the best opening half for the Islanders but they took the pitch again to change things around. But the home side were not satisfied with a one goal lead as they started the second half on the front foot. FC Goa got a shot on target in the 48th minute but Amrinder collected the ball comfortably. But a loose pass at the other end from Lenny gifted the Islanders a chance with Arnold rushing to the ball but he hit it just wide off the post.
A few minutes later, Seriton made a good run down the right and drived a low and hard cross into the six yard box. Jackichand got in front of the defender and guided the ball into the far corner to double the lead. A good goal but an error in the defence from Souvik proved costly.
There were clear signs of frustration for the visitors which saw an exchange of rough tackles as Paulo Machado pick up an unnecessary yellow card. Six minutes after the second goal, the home side were into another attack. Edu Bedia produced a moment of brilliance with an outer foot finish into the top corner to extend their lead to 3-0. The visitors’ best chance came in the 64th minute when Machado was on goal. He was one-on-one against the FC Goa custodian and chose to go for the near post but the ball hit into the side netting.
The misery continued for the Islanders as Amrinder was brought off due to injury and replaced by Ravi Kumar. The chances kept coming from FC Goa as they looked a threat on the counter attack. In the 84th minute, FC Goa sealed the game with yet another goal. The Mumbai City defence made a careless error and Manvir Singh who won the ball and set Miguel Fernandez who picked the top corner as the keeper did not stand a chance. To the despair of the visitors, the 90th minute saw FC Goa take an astonishing 5-0 lead as Miguel scored a brace to put an end to the match.
It was a night to forget for The Islanders as they put in a shift and worked hard but were just not clinical on the night. Plenty of chances were created but too many chances were missed and some costly error saw the game slip away. The Islanders will look to take the positives from this match and bounce back in the next match against Delhi Dynamos FC on October 27 at the Arena.
