Read Sportstar's match blog of the 2020-21 AFC Champions League Group E fixture between FC Goa and Al Rayyan at the Fatorda Stadium on Wednesday.
REPORT |
FULL-TIME!!!!!! FC Goa 0 Al Rayyan 0 (The Gaurs get a point in their first ever AFC Champions League game)
90+4 CORNER!!! FC Goa get a corner at the last minute of the game. Will they steal the match from here?
90+2' CHANGE!! FC Goa brings on Amarjit as a late substitute.
FOUR MINUTES ADDED!!!!
90' THAT WAS CLOSE!! A brilliant cross to Al-Rayyan who heads wide.
87' BOOKING!!! Amed Sayed from Rayyan and Ivan Gonzalez from FC Goa are shown yellow cards.
86' SAVE!!! Great save by Dheeraj. A floated ball inside Goa's box, which found Boli's head. His powerful header is saved by Dheeraj. Brilliant show of reflexes.
85' CHANGE!! Ishan Pandita comes off after a solid shift. He is replaced by Devendra Murgaokar.
85' Al Rayyan has finally turned it up. A barrage of continuous attacks on Goa's defence. Big test for FC Goa's grit and determination.
81' BRILLIANT TACKLE BY SERITON!!!! Seriton makes a brilliant challenge to keep the scores at bay as Dheeraj gave away the ball poorly with a sloppy pass, which Boli pounced upon. Seriton however, makes a brilliant challenge to deny him.
79' DOUBLE CHANGE!! Laurent Blanc makes a double change as Franck Kom and Abdulaziz Hatem go off for Abdulrahman Al Korbi and Ahmed Al Sayed.
77' CHANGE!!! Juan Ferrando makes his first change of the match. Romario is taken off and Saviour Gama replaces him.
73' FOUL!!! Ortiz is bought down in his own half by Franck Kom. He has been a threat to the Rayyan defence throughout the match.
70' CHANCE!!!! A lovely long ball to Boli, who kept himself onside in Goa's box. His first touch, however, let him down, which allowed Goa to clear the ball away from danger.
64' BOOKING!!! Sanson Pereira with a bad challenge for which he is shown a yellow card.
60' Al Rayyan notching the heat up. FC Goa's defence looks stable but it is considerably pegged back into its own half.
57' Pressure building for FC Goa. Al Rayyan with prolonged period of possession in and around Goa's box. The home team has thrown everyone except Pandita into defence.
52' Play stops as Ortiz is on the ground. Khalil and Ortiz clashed together and Ortiz felt hard contact on the side of his head.
49' FOUL!!! Aziz brings down Ortiz in an attempt to snatch the ball from him. The tackle was mistimed and Ortiz wins the foul. Refereeing has been top-notch tonight.
47' FC Goa looking sprightly from the onset of the second-half. Some early pressure on Rayyan in its penalty area but no substantial scare.
SECOND-HALF BEGINS!!!!!
Laurent Blanc will be a frustrated manager when he addresses his team at the interval. Al Rayyan, from the start looked the dominant team, creating the best chances of the match. However, finishing has not been its strong suit today. Despite keeping FC Goa at bay till now, there is no guarantee that Ferrando's team won't hurt Rayyan in the second-half.
It is commendable how FC Goa got back into the match after initial domination by Al Rayyan. Its disciplined defending has frustrated the opponent and if it can maintain this standard of play, a positive result is not out of scenario.
HALF-TIME!!!!
47+3' Ortiz tries to catch out the Rayyan defence with a quick corner but Rayyan defenders were alert enough.
THREE ADDED MINUTES
43' SHOT!!! Aziz Hatim with a pile-driving shot at Dheeraj, which swung in the air. However, the ball kept on rising and flew past the top of the woodwork. Dheeraj's full-stretched dive indicated the shot was closer than it seems.
41' SHOT!!! Romario with a long-distance shot, which was dipping at the end. An awkward one for Younis but he manages to put the ball out for a corner.
39' BOOKING!!! A reckless challenge on Glan Martins by Ibrahim Masoud with his studs showing. Referee does not hesitate to show yellow to Masoud.
37' A mistake by Traore allowed Pandita to get a lovely ball feeded to him near Rayyan's box but the young striker took too much time and was dispossessed by Traore, who atoned for his mistake.
32' FC Goa getting more into the game now. Romario with a well-tried diagonal into the box in search of Pandita but he was well contained by Rayyan defenders and goalkeeper Younis collects the ball easily.
29' SHOT!!! Boli gets the ball in Goa's box after a brilliant dummy by Brahimi and shoots at Dheeraj but scuffed his shot at the end.
23' Goa looking more confident as the game approaches the 30-minute mark. Al Rayyan taking much more time on the ball now. Goa managing to frustrate the Qatari side.
Possession stats
17' Seriton tries a shot from long-distance at Younis' goal but Khalilzadeh gets an easy block an the ball is out for a Goa throw.
16' The midfield looks very crowded for the time-being. Neither team doing much with the ball. Al Rayyan maintaining its incessant pressing nonetheless.
13' BOOKING!!! Mohamed Alaaeldin with an unnecessary challenge on Ortiz near the half-way line, for which he is shown a yellow card. He is the first player to go in the referee's book.
9' BOLI HITS THE SIDE-NETTING!!! Some sloppy defending by Goa and Boli was in Goa's box in a flash. He takes his time and shoots Dheeraj's near-post but only manages to find the side netting.
8' CHANCE AGAIN!!! Some exquisite one-two between Brahimi and Ibrahim Masoud allowed the latter to venture into the box but the final touch was a tad bit heavy, which allowed Dheeraj to come out and make the save. Good goalkeeping there.
6' CHANCE!!!! Mistake by Ortiz near Goa's box allows Brahimi to clutch on the loose ball. He shoots low to Dheeraj's right but the shot is wide.
4' Al Rayyan enjoying the lions share of the possession till now. Successfully pressing Goa when the home team gets the ball.
1' FOUL- Brandon Fernandes bought down by Naif Alhadhrami in the middle of the park.
1' KICK-OFF
10.30 IST- HERE WE GO!!!
10.15 IST- 15 MINUTES TO GO !!! Get updated about the other Group E match played today between Persepolis and Al Wahda
10:00 IST- 30 MINUTES TO KICK-OFF
9:36 IST- LINEUPS ARE OUT!!!
FC Goa: Dheeraj Singh (GK), Seriton Fernandes, Ivan Gonzalez, James Donachie, Sanson Pereira, Glan Martins, Edu Bedia (C), Alexander Romario, Brandon Fernandes, Jorge Ortiz, Ishan Pandita
Coach: Juan Ferrando
Al Rayyan SC: Fahad Younis (GK), Mohamed Alaaeldin, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Franck Kom, Dame Traore, Khaled Muftah, Yacine Brahimi, Abdel Aziz Hatim, Ibrahim Masoud, Naif Alhadhrami, Yohan Boli
Coach: Laurent Blanc
Preview
FC Goa will enter unchartered territory on Wednesday when it becomes the first Indian club to play in the AFC Champions League. The Indian Super League side will take on Qatari side Al-Rayyan at the Fatorda Stadium in its opening Group E clash.
The Gaurs come into tournament a remarkable ISL campaign where the side lost in the semifinal, on penalties, to eventual champion Mumbai City FC.
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Speaking ahead of the game against Al Rayyan, FC Goa head coach Juan Ferrando said, “We are want to be competitive and strong – in terms of our mentality and psychology. However, in the end, the most important thing when you play football is to enjoy. This is the most important word in our team.
"If the players enjoy (themselves) on the pitch, we can get success. There will always be discussions about the technical and tactical parts. However, if the players are enjoying themselves on the pitch, it’s going to be very difficult to put our plans into actions. This is the same forever all the teams around of the world.”
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The Spaniard added that this would be a learning experience and a massive opportunity to gain valuable exposure for his team. “It’s going to a huge task to play against these clubs and plates. However, for us, it’s very important to focus game by game,” he said.
“It is a time to learn but also to be competitive at the same time. For me, it is very important that everybody has a very clear mind that these games are great opportunities to make a mark for both the club and Indian football,” added Ferrando.
Captain Edu Bedia, who is in his fourth season at the club, said: “The games are going to be tough and the team we are going to be facing are going to be very hard (to beat). We are going to have moments that are difficult for us.”
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He added, “So it’s to understand that during those moments you have to stay strong and continue to focus on the game because every minute of those 90 will be important and we need to be focused for the entire 90 minutes.
“The tough moments will come but it’s up to us to ensure that during those tough moments. we stay strong and you know get the best results possible throughout the entire tournament.”
Al Rayyan- A short overview
Al-Rayyan is a Qatar-based team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. A formidable force in its earlier years, the club has not enjoyed the same domination in recent years. Winner of eight top-flight trophies, the club's last title came in 2015-16 after a trophy drought of 21years. Al Rayyan last appeared in the competition in 2019 edition.
Currently it sits third in the Qatar Stars League.
Key players: Yacine Brahimi, Yohan Boli.
FC Goa's full squad for the AFC Champions League
Goalkeepers: Mohammad Nawaz, Naveen Kumar, Shubham Dhas, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem
Defenders: Sanson Pereira, Seriton Fernandes, Leander D'Cunha, Ivan Gonzalez (Spain), Mohamed Ali, James Donachie (Australia), Aibanbha Dohling, Saviour Gama, Adil Khan
Midfielders: Edu Bedia (Spain), Glan Martins, Princeton Rebello, Brandon Fernandes, Phrangki Buam, Redeem Tlang, Makan Winkle Chothe, Alexander Romario Jesuraj, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Romeo Fernandes
Forwards: Jorge Ortiz (Spain), Devendra Murgaonkar, Ishan Pandita.
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