FC Goa vs East Bengal Highlights, FCG 1-0 EBFC, ISL 2023-24: Noah goal wins crucial three-points for Gaurs

FC Goa wins all three-points since the one Noah goal in the first half was enough to keep East Bengal at bay. Despite the scoreline separates the two sides by just one goal, on the field, FC Goa was far more dominant compared to the away side and always looked like it had more goals in it. EBFC on the other was found lying too deep and playing from the back throughout the 90. Bengal could have come close to scoring however, it failed to attack in numbers and paid the price for it. 

Udanta pushes deep from the right and plays a cut-back pass to Brandon inside the box but his first touch finish is blocked by Pantic.

The ref has awarded six minutes as added time. 

Noah head the ball into the net but is called off-side. 

Retre to Udanta on the rigth who slots it back inside at the edge of the box for Brandon but his shot is blocked out by Hijazi for a corner. 

Udanta finds himself unmarked inside the box as the ball goes to him from a cross and his header hits the far-post!

East Bengla is sitting deep looking for a way to break FC Goa’s solid backline but the Gaurs is not giving anything away. 

McHugh plays a through to Borja on the left who’s cross in is met with a soft header courtesy of Noah as the chance goes begging. 

EBFC launches its first attack in a while as Nandha holds the ball and plays it to Rakip in the right who made an overlapping run, but his cross inside the box is cleared away for a corner. Cleiton heads the ball off of the set-piece but misses the goal-post. 

Borja plays the perfect through ball to Jay Gupta on the right but his cross is cleared away with ease by EBFC. 

Martinez dribbles into the box from the middle and tries to create a cheeky one-two inside the bxo with Noah but the EBFC backline was on its toes and defends well. 

Noah holds the ball at the edge of the box, makes a turn, but his shot lacked both power and quality as the ball goes straight to the keeper. 

EBFC lose with its passing at the back as the ball rolls out for a Goa throw. Goa is piling on attacks from all sides. East Bengal will be hoping to to attack more efficiently in this last half an hour remaining. 

Odei intercepts a cross inside the box as Vishnu tries to find Cleiton in front of the goal. 

Martinez wins the ball on the left with effective pressing as he passes it in the middle to Jay at the edge of the box, but his shot misses the target despite being well struck. 

EBFC builds a slow-paced attack from the middle but Borja intercepts a crucial pass in the middle of the park. 

Martinez makes way from the left and targets a shot towards near post, saved string by the Bengal keeper. 

Carlos gets the ball in the box as he takes a touch to create a volley and then fires it clean however the ball misses the target, but only just. 

Noah does a few step overs and takes a shot from outside the box, but the ball is deflected out for a corner. The corner is cleared away comfortably by East Bengal. 

With constant exchange in possession and end to end football, the second 45 begins!

FC Goa did miss a few early chances, but finally scored in the dying embers of the first half. The home side has looked more confident and has created way more chances on goal compared to East Bengal which should be hoping to improve its performance all around the pitch. 

Victor Vazquez awarded a yellow card as he pulls Goa’s Borja who was leading a counter attack. 

Goa scores after a great attack as Yasir plays a pass cutting through EBFC’s backline for Noah on the left, who cuts in through on goal and takes a powerful shot aiming the near post as the ball flies past the keeper and into the back of the net. 

Borges plays a cross from behind into a crowded box fo rCarlos Martinez but his header is slightly off-target.

Hijazi heads the ball goal-wards off of a free-kick but the ball goes just over the crossbar. 

Cleiton picks out Vishnu on the right on a counter but the winger loses the ball. 

Borja wins the ball in the midfield and plays it ahead to Carlos Martinez who fires a powerful shot, just wide off-of the target. 

Goa breaks into a counter from the right flank as he crosses the ball in but fires it over everyone with too much power in a no-man’s land as the ball rolls away and so the scoring chance. 

Boris dribbles in from the middle for Goa and passes it Martinez at the edge of the box. The target-man takes a shot but straight at the keeper. 

Noah slots a cross in from the left towards far post for Boris who heads it to Martinez to take a shot, but he holds the ball and takes too much time, ultimately passing it to Jay who’s shot lacked quality, easily saved by Gill. 

Victor Vazquez plays it in from the left towards the far post but no EBFC teammate is able to connect a header towards goal. 

Borges dinks the ball into the box for Jay Gupta but he fails to control the ball inside the box. 

Borja plays a low driven cross from the left for Goa towards the far post but Noah misses another golden chance as he fails to connect. 

Noah was in on goal as he skips past the defenders and had only the keeper to beat, but Noah fires it straight at the keeper from 10 yard out. Big chance squandered!

EBFC launches an attack from the left but Odei defends well. 

Noah plays a cross from the right for Carlos Martinez but the attacker fails to win the header inside the box. 

Mahesh wins it deep for EBFC and plays it ahead for Cleiton who takes a shot but deflected away for a corner. It is played short but the move amounts to nothing. 

Yasir plays a ball in from the left for Goa but it is cleared away by Bengal’s Hijazi. 

FC Goa is passing it around looking for an opening but EBFC is holding its shape. 

Thangjam pushes for Goa from the right but is stopped in the knick of time at the edge of the box. 

EBFC starts on the front foot but FC Goa does well to fend off the initial attacks. 

The FC Goa vs East Bengal ISL 2023-24 match will be live telecasted on the Sports18 1 Channel (TV). The game can also be live streamed on the JioCinema app and website (online).

The game will be livestreamed on OneFootball for those watching from outside India.

FC Goa is all set to host East Bengal in the Indian Super League at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, Goa on March 6, 2024. 

Goa is high up the table at fourth and is still in the race for the ISL Shield. East Bengal on the other hand is struggling in ninth, however it is still in the race for a playoff spot.

The home side heads into the game after after a loss and a draw in its last two games against Kerala Blasters and Mumbai City FC respectively and hence EBFC would be hoping for a win against an opponent that could be running low on confidence.