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FC Goa hosted Chennaiyin FC in the ISL, in what promised to be a cracker of a game, given that both the teams are vying for a playoff spot. While Chennaiyin FC are placed in the 4th spot in the league table Goa are placed 6th but with a game in hand.
The game started on as a boxing bout and both the teams weighted each other for the initial few minutes, after the initial shadow boxing, Chennaiyin seemed to have had the advantage during the first half by virtue of creating more chances.
The second half started on bang for Chennai as they created a flurry of chances and managed to score a lucky goal as a rebound of the keeper fell to Jeje who miscued shot deflected off two Goa defenders to enter the goal. Goa after falling behind started attacking more but failed to find the crucial equalizer. With this win, Chennaiyin moved to third place, whereas Goa remained in 6th place in the league table.
On that note, let's take a look at the player ratings.
FC Goa
Naveen Kumar (6/10): Naveen Kumar made some really good saves in the first half and saved some sure goals, but right at the onset of the second half, Naveen had a series of sloppy plays and it eventually resulted in a goal for Chennaiyin.
Seriton Fernandes (6.5/10): Seriton had a tough time keeping the likes of Nelson and Jerry at bay. Seriton also didn’t have much success going forward. He looked impressive in the dying moments of the match.
Bruno Pinheiro (6/10): Bruno didn’t have a good game today, as he had problems aplenty keeping the likes of Jeje and Raphael quiet. He was rightly substituted in the second half, and he could have done much better to keep the ball out of the net.
Mohamed Ali (6/10): Ali tried his best to keep Jeje at bay, but wasn’t much successful as Jeje and the other Chennaiyin attackers crept into the box quite often.
Narayan Das (6.5/10): Narayan worked really hard today, and made a good goal-line clearance from a Jeje shot. He also tried his best to keep clear the ball that eventually went into the Goa goal.
Edu Bedia (6.5/10): Edu Bedia looked to control midfield during the course of the game but failed miserably in the first half, but got a hold of the game during the second half, especially during the last 15 minutes.
Ahmed Jahouh (5.5/10): Jahouh has been on the decline for the past few games and his dip in form has had a toll on FC Goa, he was really poor for the first 70mins and only found his feet somewhat after the 70minute mark
Brandon Fernandes (6.5/10): Brandon had a brilliant shot that rattled the crossbar, he looked lively throughout the game. Brandon though does need to work on his defensive duties as Seriton looked lonely tackling the likes of Nelson quiet often.
Manuele Lanzarote (6/10): Lanzarote worked hard, but didn’t have much success with anything, his passes failed to open up the Chennai defense and except one free kick none of his set-pieces troubled the Chennai defense.
Mandar Rao Desai (6/10): Mandar didn’t have the best of games, except the last few moments of the game he failed to make any meaningful moves into the Chennai half.
Ferran Corominas (6/10): Coro had a frustrating night, as he didn’t get many chances to score, the one good chance that he did have, went on to hit the post and then Karanjit and go out of play. Coro also got booked for kicking the ball away.
Chennaiyin FC
Karanjit Singh (7.5/10): Karanjit made some crucial saves during the final stages of the game, and ensured that Chennai comes away with a clean sheet and 3points.
Inigo Calderon (8.5/10): Inigo was brilliant today, he did his defensive duties properly and was excellent going forward, even though the goal was credited to him, the replays showed that he failed to get a touch on the ball before the ball crossed the line. He did a fine job to keep Mandar quiet and venture forward and keep Narayan busy.
Mailson Alves (8/10): Mailson was solid throughout the game and was the main reason why Coro had a quiet night. He had a big role in ensuring that Chennaiyin came back with all three points.
Henrique Sereno (8/10): Sereno made some crucial clearances and anticipations, he acted as the perfect leader and saw to it that he covered for every man. His coordination with his teammates was simply superb today.
Jerry Lalrinzuala (7.5/10): Jerry has grown in stature this season, and has improved nearly every segment of his game. Jerry also did a good job to keep Brandon quiet and isolated on the flanks.
Bikramjit Singh (6.5/10): Bikramjit worked really hard, and played with full passion, he made some good blocks and clearances. It was also he hard tackling nature that kept Goa at bay for most parts of the first half.
Dhanpal Ganesh (6.5/10): Dhanpal has been having a good season so far and was again brilliant in the first half today. He was big presence in the middle of the park and countered Ahmed Jahouh physical presence brilliantly
Fransico Fernandes (5.5/10): Francis didn’t have much of the ball, and except for creating one good chance he wasn’t much effective. He had a pass completion rate of around 40% which is really poor.
Raphael Augusto (7.5/10): Raphael looked like the Raphael of old times as he was brilliant throughout the game. He tracked back and won a lot of balls, and moved forward swiftly and created a lot of chances for his strikers.
Gregory Nelson (7.5/10): It was Nelsons shot that was fisted away by Naveen Kumar that eventually ended up into the Goa and goal and won Chennai the game. Nelson was one of the best players on the pitch and he kept on drifting inside and cutting outside as per his wish. He also changed flanks often to keep the Goa defenders occupied.
Jeje Lalpekhlua (7/10): Jeje had one shot cleared from the goal line by Narayan Das, and had a couple of more chances to score, it was his miscued shot that deflected of Bruno and Narayan into the net to snatch a win for Chennai.
