The Guars snapped their six-game winless run in style as they thrashed Chennaiyin FC at the Tilak Maidan on Wednesday night, scoring five past the hapless Marina Machans, who, for the second game running, failed to manage a shot on target. Jorge Ortiz scored thrice while left-back Aibanbha Dohling also starred for Derrick Pereira’s side with two assists.
Goa took the lead with six minutes on the clock. Captain Edu Bedia played a short pass to Aiban out on the left flank, which the left-back turned into a deep cross to the back post. Makan Chote, holding his position just beyond the last defender, rushed towards the ball from his blindside and drove it home the first time of asking.
Ortiz scored the first of his three in the 20th minute. The same combination, which combined for Goa’s opener, nearly proved effective again. Aiban drove to the byline and crossed for Chote, but the attacker failed to get a clear connection this time around.
As the ball bounced around in the Chennaiyin box, Ortiz, sensing an opportunity, committed himself to it and smashed home Goa’s second goal from close range.
There was a slice of luck about Goa’s third goal of the game. Alberto Noguera’s attempted threaded through-ball to Ortiz was cut out by Anirudh Thapa, but the Chennaiyin captain’s touch was weak, and the ball, instead, looped over his defence into the path of Ortiz, who finished calmly.
Narayan Das headed a deep Noguera cross past his goalkeeper in the first minute of first-half stoppage time to extend the Gaurs’ lead to four.
Ortiz completed his hattrick in the 53rd minute. Aiban, again, proved effective in the build-up, carrying the ball all the way to the Chennaiyin box before squaring it to Ortiz in space. The forward dug it out of his feet and slammed his shot into the bottom corner. Goa won big, but it might’ve come too late in the season with only four games left to play.
