The Gaur continues to roar in its fortress
Augusto Rodrigues
The Gaur roars best in its fortress and this was evident when FC Goa scored another emphatic 3 -0 goal win over ATK Mohun Bagan in their second home game of ISL 9 at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda on Sunday.
Two home wins on back-to-back score lines were enough for FC Goa to climb to the third spot of the table at the end of round 6.
FC Goa started well in the first half but could not hurt ATK Mohun Bagan on six occasions with goals. However, they left dents of their superiority which translated into class in the second half with goals flowing with ease.
FC Goa enjoyed complete domination through the 90 minutes with ATK Mohun Bagan unable to carve a single decent strike. Liston Colaco was listless and so was former player Boumous who appeared trying to enjoy the air of Goa instead of the game.
The first half was between goalkeeper Vishal Kaith of Mohun Bagan and FC Goa forwards and the former stood tall over the latter, always. Vishal denied FC Goa a goal on four occasions during the first session of play.
As has been their forte, FC Goa started their attack by beating the ATK Mohun Bagan offside trap but Kaith came to the rescue.
FC Goa kept breaking into the Bagan citadel and the Bagan lads never looked to trouble the FC Goa defence with goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh hardly put to test.
If the first half saw a wave of emotions, the second saw a riot as FC Goa pumped in three goals all with elements of individual class in them.
FC Goa started their scoring in the 50th minute when Aibanbha Dohling picked a ball on the left and dribbled past the Bagan defence to score from zero angle and lit matches to a party that was to follow.
The goal did appear to unsettle the Bagan players with some semblance creeping into their attack but with little venom which was robbed of its sting in the 82nd minute through a set piece initiated by Edu Bedia through a corner earned.
Edu drifted his corner towards the top of the Bagan box where defender Fares Arnaout stubbed it in with a clean header to make his team’s superiority look stoic.
Down by two goals and Bagan seemed out of sorts with their substitutions unable to add zing either to their attack or defence. Carl Mchugh who replaced Joni Kauko appeared to clean the midfield but Bagan needed more than cleaning.
FC Goa coach brought in Noah for Alvaro Garcia and the former opened the scoring gates with class by scoring the third goal. Noah saw Vishal a meter out of goal and let in a shot from more than 30 yards that kissed the Bagan keeper's hand before rolling in.
The game saw nine yellow cards in all – four in the first half and five in the second with the players from the winning team earning five.
FC Goa hosts Bengaluru FC who is placed second last on the table on Saturday.