FC Goa closed the gap with top-placed Mohun Bagan Super Giant after a flawless 2-0 win against Chennaiyin FC in their Indian Super League match on Saturday. The Gaurs are placed second in the table with 33 points after this win, cutting the gap with the top-positioned Mohun Bagan Super Giant (37) to four points. The loss also extended Chennaiyin FC’s winless run to six games, having last tasted a victory in the ISL during their 1-0 win against Hyderabad FC on December 11.

FC Goa held total control over this game, keeping 58.6% of the possession and taking eight shots on target as opposed to none of Chennaiyin FC.

Iker Guarrotxena got FC Goa ahead in the game with his sharp awareness inside the six-yard box.

Following a corner, Boris Singh received the ball on the right flank. Boris curled in a cross that was mishandled by Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Mohammed Nawaz.

Brison Fernandes lapped upon the chance but his shot ricocheted off the woodwork, and Guarrotxena picked up the loose ball and hammered it into the high centre of the goal in the 11th minute.

Nawaz partly redeemed himself six minutes later, as Aakash Sangwan burst into the box following a fast break by the Gaurs and shot firmly from a narrow angle on the left side.

Nawaz was forced to make an outstretched dive to get his hand at the end of the shot to save his side from conceding another strike. Sangwan did get the better of Nawaz in the 26th minute though, this time, from an even more difficult angle.

The gameplay seemed straight out of the training ground of the Gaurs, as Guarrotxena enabled them to build pressure on the Chennaiyin FC defence.

Abruptly, he broke that passage of play by making a backward pass to Carl McHugh. Unmarked, McHugh played a lobbed ball over the Chennaiyin FC backline for Sangwan, who took a deft touch before castling the ball into the bottom left corner by beating Nawaz on the near post.

FC Goa stepped up the intensity following their second goal, embracing a more proactive outlook in dabbling with multiple ways to test the Chennaiyin FC defence. Guarrotxena operated right down the middle and encountered a chance to triple the lead in the 31st minute.

In a pocket of space with no Chennaiyin FC players around him, he unleashed a thunderous shot directed on target that had to be saved by Nawaz in the top centre of the goal.

While the Gaurs orchestrated multiple incisive attacking moves, Chennaiyin FC struggled to create meaningful chances. FC Goa operated seamlessly in tandem from back to front, with the defence building up attacks and the midfield propelling them to sustain that for reasonable periods of time.

The Marina Machans, however, had a chance to pull a goal back in the 69th minute. Connor Shields, the leading assist maker (8) in the league, sprinted down the right flank before hurling in a cross for Wilmar Jordan Gil at the centre of the FC Goa box.

Wilmar got into a complicated position in his attempt to get the ball down. He instead squared it up for Farukh Choudhary beside him. With ample space to target the net, Farukh ended up striking his shot way too high of the goal. PTI AH AM AH AM AM

Bengaluru FC played out a 2-2 draw against FC Goa.© X/@bengalurufc

FC Goa clinched their 50th clean sheet in the competition and continued their formidable form as they edged past Kerala Blasters FC 1-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season on Thursday. It was an intensely cagey affair between the two teams, as neither was allowing an inch to their opposition. It was an interesting midfield tussle, with the Kerala Blasters FC preferring their homegrown talents, Vibin Mohanan and Freddy Lallawmawma, against FC Goa’s Carl McHugh-led midfield.

The first opportunity of the game fell to Iker Guarrotxena when the Spaniard struck the post from a well-planned freekick. It was straight out of the training ground and it took the opposition defenders by surprise. However, it was cleared away after hitting the far post with Sachin Suresh completely beaten between the sticks.

The Gaurs were relentless in attack post the 30-minute mark and their persistence eventually bore fruit when Sahil Tavora found Boris Singh on the right flank with acres of space. The winger tried his luck from a narrow angle and to everyone’s surprise, Sachin Suresh failed to parry the ball away, eventually conceding in the 40th minute.

It has been a tough inaugural season for Mikael Stahre with his team dropping points due to several individual errors. One such incident happened today with Sachin Suresh fluffing his lines which otherwise was a very regulation save. Now the goal handed FC Goa the lead at the break, allowing the visitors to dictate terms in the second period.

The Gaurs started the second half just like they finished the first one. They almost doubled their lead when Dejan Drazic was in behind the Blasters’ backline on a fast break. He wriggled his way past Pritam Kotal but was eventually denied by Sachin Suresh.

With Manolo Marquez’s men continuing their onslaught, Stahre decided to shake things up with wholesale changes in the 56th minute. He brought on the likes of Kwame Peprah, Korou Singh and Sandeep Singh replacing Jesus Jimenez, Rahul KP and Pritam Kotal respectively.

Peprah was off the blocks quickly with a brilliantly weighted diagonal ball to Noah Sadaoui. However, the Moroccan’s final ball intended towards Luna was expertly blocked by Akash Sangwan. There was a spell in between which belonged to the hosts but the likes of Odei Onaindia and Sandesh Jhingan held their fort with aplomb.

In the 84th minute, Manolo turned to his substitutions as he brought on the trio of Armando Sadiku, Borja Herrera and Udanta Singh to freshen things up for the visitors. FC Goa’s defenders were once again called into action by young Korou, who took two attempts on goal in quick succession but both times it was kept out. The youngster was in a great position to equalise in the first instance but he was denied by an excellent block from Jhingan, who threw his body on the line to safeguard the lead for the Gaurs.

FC Goa maintained their excellent form.© X/@IndSuperLeague

Led by Borja Herrera’s sensational hat-trick, FC Goa secured their first win of their Indian Super League 2024-25 campaign as they edged past hosts East Bengal 3-2 in Kolkata on Friday. The visitors started the game brightly as they made some impactful moves into the final third. The likes of Dejan Drazic, Borja Herrera and Boris Singh made openings early on in the game. Their persistent attacks were soon rewarded when Drazic’s cross from the left was parried away by East Bengal goalkeeper Debjit Majumder.

However, the stray ball fell to Borja in space and the Spaniard slotted it into the net in the 13th minute.

The Gaurs kept troubling the East Bengal FC backline with their darting counter-attacks. In such an instance, Boris Singh won possession from Hijazi Maher on the right flank in a dangerous area. The youngster came up with a perfectly weighted cut-back to find Borja in the box, who slammed it home again in the 20th minute to double the lead for the visitors.

However, the Carles Cuadrat-coached team retaliated well with some offensive moves.

They eventually found an opening when Nim Dorja tripped Madih Talal in the penalty area, awarding the Red and Gold Brigade a spot-kick and an opportunity to come back in the game.

Talal stepped up and calmly slotted it past Laxmikant Kattimani to pull a goal back in the 29th minute.

East Bengal FC started the second period positively with some penetrative attacks. However, the real opening fell to FC Goa, when Drazic and Rowllin Borges combined and opened up the Red and Gold defence. But the latter’s eventual effort was wide off target. The Serbian came up with another effort from outside the box but once again it went wide.

FC Goa regained their two-goal advantage in the 71st minute when Udanta Singh won possession from Hijazi and squared it to Borja in space. The Spanish midfielder cruised his way into the penalty area before rippling the back of the net to complete his hat-trick.

The visitors were in a spot of bother when Carl McHugh received a second yellow card in the 81st minute. East Bengal FC made full use of their numeric advantage when David Lalhlansanga pulled one goal back in the 85th minute after Kattimani parried a long-range effort from Anwar Ali straight on his path.

East Bengal kept pushing for the equaliser in the final minutes but FC Goa held fort and walked away with maximum points.

Sandesh Jhingan opened up about his experience with age fraud in football.© X (Twitter)

File photo of Manolo Marquez© Twiter

Defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant and their archrivals East Bengal FC, the two finalists from the previous edition, have been drawn together in the same group as the group stage draw for the upcoming Durand Cup 2024 was unveiled on Thursday. The 24 teams from the ISL, I-League, international teams, and teams from the Armed Forces will fight it out in Asia’s oldest football tournament, scheduled to commence on July 27. Notably, international teams will also feature with Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC and Bangladesh Army Football Team, both returning from the previous edition.

This year, Jamshedpur and Shillong join Kokrajhar and Kolkata as host cities, with each hosting group stage fixtures. Kolkata, the main venue, will host three groups, while Jamshedpur, Shillong, and Kokrajhar will each host one group.

The tournament will follow a round-robin league format with knockout stages, culminating in the final at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. In total, 43 matches will be played and the top teams from each group, along with the two best second-placed teams, will advance to the knockout phase.

Here are the groups for Durand Cup 2024:

Group A (Kolkata): Mohun Bagan SG, East Bengal FC, Indian Air Force FT, Downtown Heroes FC

Group B (Kolkata): Bengaluru FC, Inter Kashi FC, Indian Navy FT, Mohammedan SC

Group C (Kolkata): Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, Punjab FC, CISF Protectors FT

Group D (Jamshedpur): Jamshedpur FC, Chennaiyin FC, Indian Army FT, Bangladesh Army FT

Group E (Kokrajhar): Odisha FC, NorthEast United FC, Bodoland FC, BSF FT

Group F (Shillong): FC Goa, Hyderabad FC, Shillong Lajong FC, Tribhuvan Army FC

File image of Mohun Bagan players Anirudh Thapa and Jason Cummings.© X (Twitter)