Jay Gupta's stunning strike secures a thrilling victory for FC Goa against Odisha FC | ISL 2023-24

Returning in front of their fans, FC Goa scripted a thrilling 3-2 victory against Odisha FC thanks to a stunning late strike from Jay Gupta at the Fatorda Stadium, Goa on Saturday, October 7. Braces from Mourtada Fall and Noah Sadaoui kept the match on level terms until the young full-back's heroics.

Both Sergio Lobera and Manolo Marquez expectedly fielded a full-strength lineup. Roy Krishna led the attacking line for the Juggernauts while the Gaurs had a front three of Udanta Singh, Noah Sadaoui, and Carlos Martinez.

In the initial exchanges, Odisha had a clear edge over their opponents and were rewarded for their dominance soon after.

An early corner popped up for Lobera's men in the sixth minute and Puitea delivered an immaculate cross from the deadball situation. Mourtada Fall, who had just outmuscled Carl McHugh, managed to ripple the net with his volleyed effort and gave the Kalinga Warriors an early lead.

Having scored against his former club, the celebrations from the veteran full-back were muted but there were no doubts regarding the gravity of the strike.

Minutes later, Odisha almost doubled their lead when Jerry Mawihmingthanga drilled a pass into the six-yard box, which was turned home by Roy Krishna, however, the linesman raised his flag immediately to indicate offside. The impetus was now on the Gaurs to crawl back into the clash.

Noah and Brandon Fernandes continued to helm Goa's creative duty but the decisiveness in the final third was lacking.

While the intensity was slowly dying down from the Juggernauts, another dramatic moment emerged with Carlos Delgado clipping Brandon inside the OFC box. The hosts pleaded incessantly but the referee ultimately opined against it.

FC Goa came agonizingly close to leveling the scores in the 36th minute when a freekick from Brandon found the head of McHugh. However, the Irishman's effort kissed the crossbar and sailed high. Before the end of the first 45, the Gaurs had a couple more half chances fall their way but couldn't convert any of them.

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FC Goa seal the clash against Odisha FC in injury time

After the break, the Gaurs built on the momentum they had established throughout for majority of the first half. Carlos Martinez had a bite at the cherry from inside the box after Noah Sadaoui set him up, but the Spanish forward's effort narrowly missed the frame of the goal.

The Orange tide eventually overwhelmed the Juggernauts and Ahmed Jahouh's trailing leg caught the Moroccan winger inside the box.

The referee pointed to the spot right away and Sadaoui stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick. The FC Goa talisman converted the penalty initially but he was asked to retake due to a stutter in the run-up. Under pressure for a second time, Noah didn't falter from the spot yet again.

With the tide steadily turning against them, Sergio Lobera brought on a couple of substitutes - Aniket Jadhav and Diego Mauricio. However, in the 68th minute, Sadaoui doubled his tally and secured the lead for the Gaurs when he capitalized on a defensive lapse from Jerry.

The visitors were left stunned but the lead was still very much in their grasp and all the Juggernauts needed just a moment to restore parity. The highest goal-scoring defender in the ISL, Mourtada Fall, once again found himself at the end of a deflected cross and thumped it home in the 81st minute.

The Gaurs once again had it all to do in the final 10 minutes of the clash. While Lobera was eager to come away with a draw, Jay Gupta absolutely stunned the stadium with a world-class inswinging finish sixth minute of additional time.

As the referee blew the final whistle, Goa came away with three points and climbed to second on the league table. Meanwhile, Odisha slumped to their first defeat in the ISL 2023-24 season.