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FC Goa and Mumbai City played out a seven-goal thriller at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, with the scoreboard reading 5-2 in favour of the hosts at the end of 90 minutes.
In a strange happening, Goa conceded first, as they let Rowllin Borges open the account in the 18th minute. However, the Gaurs responded through Ferran Corominas two minutes later and stormed into a safe lead with back-to-back goals before half-time.
In contrast to the first 45 minutes, Mumbai City looked more regrouped and focused in attack and earned the reward through Bipin Singh three minutes short of the hour mark. But, the hosts didn't back off from their attacks and scored twice in the final 10 minutes to put the game to bed.
With the victory, FC Goa are now back on top of the ISL points table with 36 points from 17 games. Mumbai City, meanwhile, are four points away from Chennaiyin FC, still having three games to play this season.
Here, we look at three reasons why the Gaurs posted another high-scoring victory.
#3 Goan defence keeps Modou Sougou in check
Amine Chermiti's fourth yellow card and Serge Kevyn's hamstring injury forced Jorge Costa to face Goa without a full-packed attacking lineup. The gaffer had no option but to field Modou Sougou as the lone striker and Mohamed Larbi playing behind him. However, the club's all-time top-goalscorer was only a shadow of himself after being kept under check by the opposition defence.
Sougou had only 25 touches on the ball and managed three shots, including two on target. The striker's supply houses, Diego Carlos and Bipin Singh, often could not find the Senegalese at attacking positions.
After Bipin Singh got on the scoresheet in the second half and made the tally 3-2, Mumbai had the opening to pressurize and restore parity. Though they managed to exert pressure for some time, restoring parity stayed away with their talisman's goalscoring boots. Had Modou Sougou been on one of his better nights, Mumbai would have added the enthusiasm in the game to reach out to the hosts.
Whenever Sougou looked dangerous, Mourtada Fall and Carlos Pena were in place to clear the lines. Thus, Goa's excellence in defence paired with Sougou's bad touch ensured a duck for the 35-year-old striker.
#2 Mumbai's sloppy defence
Mumbai City had a very leaky defence throughout the game. The backline, was at times, lucky to see off the danger and was nowhere near to their usual best. Goa had no trouble splitting the defence and extending through balls. The fullbacks had a hard time dealing with the likes of Brandon Fernandes, Jackichand Singh, and Hugo Boumous drifting wide.
The back-to-back pacy attacks took the confidence away from Mato Grgic and Pratik Choudhari, thereby forcing errors from the center-back duo. Leaving a dangerous Ferran Coro, unmarked in the box, was the silliest of mistake from the visitors.
The second goal was again a vivid picture of the Islanders' poor set-piece dealing. Hugo Boumous was the man left free this time, and he managed to head it into the back of the net. While the defenders were mere spectators for the third and fourth goal, Mohammed Rafique deflected the ball into the net for Goa's fifth and final goal of the night.
In total, Mumbai City had a shift to forget at the back, at Goa. With three of their defenders in the books and the only one not penalized scoring an own goal, Jorge Costa knows what was wrong for his side.
#1 FC Goa's attacking prowess
FC Goa had a decent record at home this season, conceding only six goals and winning as many matches before the local crowd. However, the visitors did not back off from finding the back of the net early on.
Rowllin Borges' strike had a perfect response from the Goan outfit with three goals in 20 minutes. Ferran Corominas began proceedings with an easy conversion from Hugo Boumous' header from inside the box. In the 38th minute, Boumous scored past Amrinder with ease, to double the tally. Just before Mumbai could wake up to the deficit, Corominas was again on the back of an attack, setting up Jackichand Singh.
Though the Gaurs were kept silent by Mumbai for some time from then, the visitors had no proper plan for Coro even in the second half. The Spaniard got the better of Amrinder Singh in the 80th minute and had a golden chance to register a hat-trick seven minutes later. However, the striker could not get past the challenge, but let Lenny Rodrigues fire a shot at goal, which deflected off Mohammed Rafique into the net.
Thus, FC Goa, under Clifford Miranda, continued their goal-scoring routines and put on a shhow with their attacking brand of football at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa.
