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FC Goa stormed into the finals of the Hero Super Cup with a convincing 3-0 victory over the I-League Champions Chennai City FC at Kalinga Stadium in Bhuvneshwar.
Sergio Lobera's men will have to wait until Wednesday to know if Chennaiyin FC or ATK will face off the ISL runners-up in the Super Cup finals on Saturday.
It was a thoroughly dominant display from the ISL outfit, who looked assured with and without the ball to force the issue and cause havoc to Chennai City's defence.
Charles conceded a cheap foul inside the penalty box on the opponent's skipper Ferran Corominas and the FC Goa striker scored from the spot-kick in the 26th minute.
Nine minutes later, total miscommunication in the Chennai City FC's defence enabled Coro to bag his second of the game.
They retained the ball for the majority of the game and Brandon Fernandes broke through the counter-attack to put the game beyond the eyesight of Akbar Nawas' side.
In this article, we shall look at five talking points from the game.
#1 Goa had much more energy and intensity throughout the game
Chennai City FC struggled to match FC Goa's energy and intensity from the minute one of the game. Sergio Lobera's side looked well drilled to glide past opponents and complete the job against a disjointed side.
Jackichand Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lenny Rodrigues, and Hugo Boumous looked athletic and won plenty of duels and second balls to open up the defence of Chennai City FC. On the other hand, Nestor Gordillo, Sandro Rodriguez, Charlie, and Sriram were second-rate at both ends of the pitch.
All three goals broke through the counter-attack when FC Goa showed much more purpose with severe intensity to punish Chennai City FC's defence. The midfield battle enabled much more supply for Ferran Corominas who bagged a double again.
They could have scored even more, but the score was kept down to only three, thanks to the lack of decision making coupled with poor finishing from FC Goa's frontline, particularly in the second half when the likes of Hugo Boumous and Brandon Fernandes missed sitters.
#2 Goalkeeper Boerchio the only pick, the rest were very flat for Chennai City FC
If Mauro Boerchio failed to turn up like rest of his teammates, Chennai City FC would have conceded another two goals, without a shadow of a doubt.
The shot-stopper made an excellent save from Lenny Rodriguez's shot by finger tipping it over the crossbar in the first half.
In the second part of the game, the same local hero unleashed a shot from outside the box, but Boerchio was equal to his task to tip the ball over the crossbar again. Apart from the shot-stopper, the outfields were underwhelming and struggled to win duels against FC Goa.
The absence of the first choice defensive midfielder Raegan Albarnas enabled the opponents to run over the midfield and create chances for fun. The dazzling Spanish trio of Sandro Rodriguez, Nestor Gordilla, and Pedro Manzi were the main source of goals, but they failed to stand up to the task.
#3 Lenny Rodrigues was the steel in midfield for FC Goa
The absence of Chennai City FC's instrumental player Raegan Albarnas meant that Akbar Nawas would be forced to deploy the young Charlie who struggled throughout the game. Raegan's exclusion made life easier for FC Goa's midfielders who shut down their opponents in both the areas of the pitch.
Sergio Lobera's midfielders were dominant, but one man caught the eye of plenty of spectators. Lenny Rodriguez was the midfielder to have put in a tremendous performance in the middle of the pitch to win plenty of duels and controlled the game brilliantly by passing the ball around and keep possession which is the key ingredient in Lobera's philosophy.
By sitting back with the rest of the defence, he gave total freedom to the front four who looked like blowing away their opponents. His composure to handle tight spaces made life very tough for Sriram and Charlie.
#4 Saviour Gama and Carlos Pena dealt with pressure very well
Saviour Gama was given the job to mark and shut down the young winger Romario. The Chennai City FC attacker has breakneck pace and an eye for goal in his game, but he was kept quiet by Gama who dealt with him brilliantly to cut down plenty of counter-attacks at the right time.
Rightfully, he was acknowledged with the Man of the match award for a spectacular show.
The leading scorer in the I-League, Pedro Manzi decided to target Carlos Pena and get the best out of him. But, the Spanish International was dealt with by the FC Goa defender very well who did not give a sniff to run away with the ball.
He combined well with Mourtada Fall to form a formidable partnership at the back and did well to clear out the set pieces.
Without the immense contributions of Saviour Gama and Carlos Pena, FC Goa would not have kept a clean sheet.
#5 Corominas proves his prowess again
Since the game was over in the first half, thanks to a brace from the skipper Ferran Corominas, FC Goa players were greedy and tried to score on their own when they had plenty of opportunities to pass the ball to the Spanish International.
During the second half, Coro did have a chance to bag a hat-trick, but Jackichand Singh's ball had too much pace which gave no chance for the striker to get the decisive touch which would have diverted the ball into the net.
Apart from that chance, the Spanish International was competent and took the two chances which mattered the most in the first half.
When there was a miscommunication in the backline, Coro took full advantage of that to score past Boerchio. The striker, rather than powering into the back of the net, placed the ball in the bottom corner to bag his brace.
