Although two games were scheduled for the weekend on Saturday, one of them had to be postponed with one of the ATK Mohun Bagan players testing positive ahead of their clash against Odisha FC. In the other game, however, two teams with a rich history of playing out sensational games faced off and delivered an end-to-end contest.
Goa took control of the ball in the opening ten minutes, getting some good chances with the likes of Jorge Ortiz and Alberto Noguera combining well. Noguera’s through ball towards the path of Ortiz in the 18th minute nearly got Goa the lead, but Debjit Majumder bravely put his body on the line to deny the Spanish striker a clear shot at goal.
Chennaiyin barely made it to the final third of the Goa half. Goa had Dheeraj Singh missing out for this fixture, and Naveen Kumar came in as his deputy. The only time he was called into action in the first half was to clear the ball during a long free-kick. They had another penalty shout towards the end, but it was one-way traffic all the way through.
Ortiz had another stellar opportunity around the 40th minute when Glan Martins’ shot from 30 yards was parried into his path. Ortiz took a touch to take it round the keeper, but he scuffed his shot into the side-netting. The Spaniard once again tested Debjit from an acute angle to get it through his near post, but Debjit came out on top.
Edu Bedia whipped in some brilliant corners in the second half, one of which nearly went in before hitting the side bar and deflecting away. He made Debjit scamper through hurriedly when he took a shot from 40 yards. The men in orange had total control of the game, but Chennaiyin had another good chance with Mirlan Murzaev’s bullet of a shot, but Kumar came up trumps.
With the game heading towards a 0-0 draw, Goa finally got their breakthrough goal, which was no more than what they deserved. They missed some opportunities from close range, but Ortiz, this time, banged it to the top corner off his left foot from 30 yards, catching the keeper by surprise and providing a stunning moment to give his side the decisive lead.
Goa held on to their lead despite the visiting side threatening towards the end with some possession in the opposite half, but Derrick Pereira’s unit managed to pull through with a 1-0 victory that kept them three points off the fourth position.
