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FC Goa beat Odisha FC by a slender 1-0 margin in the 25th match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) at the GMC Bambolim Stadium in Goa on Saturday. It was a neat Igor Angulo finish during stoppage time in the first half that proved to be enough for FC Goa. They took all the three points and moved to the fourth spot in the points table.
FC Goa started really well as Jorge Ortiz played a few passes before whipping a cross. But it turned out to be an easy catch for Arshdeep Singh. Lenny Rodrigues received a yellow card after a poor touch saw him stepping on Gaurav Bora’s feet. But FC Goa didn’t have a problem in maintaining the ball for majority of the first half.
Even though Odisha FC left a lot of space on the flanks, FC Goa were unable to provide an incisive pass or cross to Igor Angulo. The creative Brandon Fernandes made a reverse pass to Jorge Ortiz, but the Spaniard struck his shot wide of the target.
Brandon also dashed past a couple of Odisha defenders on the right flank before looking for a cross to Angulo, but the ball deflected off Jacob Tratt. However, Arshdeep did well to push it away for a corner.
Odisha also threatened a little bit when FC Goa kept overplaying the ball inside their defensive area. Shubham Sarangi’s pass to Manuel Onwu saw the forward releasing Diego Mauricio into acres of space. It was Seriton Fernandes who defended superbly to get FC Goa out of trouble. The right full-back pushed the Brazilian away from a goal, meaning that the chance to take a shot was all but gone.
The Stuart Baxter-managed side also enjoyed a decent spell of possession towards the end of the first half. However, Mauricio put an end to it with too much dribbling.
Just when it looked like the half will end goalless, Alexander Romario Jesuraj ran to the byline and cut it back to Angulo. The clinical Spaniard then took a touch to give himself some space before striking the ball past Arshdeep Singh to put FC Goa ahead. The move came after Juan Ferrando’s decision to shift Romario to the left flank after the Dindigul native had been ineffective on the other end.
Right after the second half began, Jerry Mawihmingthanga received a fantastic cross from Hendry Antonay. The winger’s diving header, however, went over the bar. At the other end, Jorge Ortiz came up with a shot from outside the box, but Arshdeep did well to push it away. The game turned into an end-to-end affair as Diego Mauricio chested down Jacob Tratt’s long ball only for Cole Alexander to push it wide.
Arshdeep Singh then came up with an amazing double save to pull Odisha out of deep misery. First, Saviour Gama released Igor Angulo behind the Odisha back-line, but the 36-year-old striker was denied by a left-footed save. Then Ortiz forced Arshdeep to come up with a full-stretch diving save.
In the 70th minute, Jerry was given a chance to come up with a good header, which went wide. Four minutes later, Princeton Rebello came up with a lovely outside-of-the-boot through ball to Igor Angulo only in vain.
With just a couple of minutes to go in regular time, Princeton delivered a superb diagonal ball to Len Doungel who headed it into Jorge Ortiz’s path. Ortiz’s shot was saved well by Arshdeep, following which the Odisha FC defense came together to deny Len Doungel. In the end, FC Goa might believe that they should have scored a lot more, but three points would taste pretty well.
ISL 2020-21, OFC vs FCG: Who was the Hero of the Match?
Jorge Ortiz is a well-deserved ‘Hero of the Match” for his superb work-rate. The Spanish winger was relentless with his runs as he kept troubling the young Odisha FC full-backs.
Ortiz’s nimble footwork often saw him getting the better of Shubham Sarangi and Hendry Antonay. The final delivery was the only missing piece in his jigsaw puzzle.
However, it must be said that he was denied by the trio of Jacob Tratt, Steven Taylor and Arshdeep Singh. On any other day, Ortiz could have probably had two goals and an assist. All said and done, Ortiz also had a part to play in FC Goa’s solitary goal as it was his pass that released Alexander Romario Jesuraj into some space.
