Five-star Goa outplays Delhi to move into top spot

In the end, it turned out to be an easy victory for Sergio Lobera’s side, which is now at the top of the ISL table.

Ferran Corominas Telechea of FC Goa celebrates after scoring against Delhi Dynamos FC during their Hero ISL match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

 

FC Goa condemned Delhi Dynamos to its fourth successive defeat with a 5-1 thrashing in their Indian Super League encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here today.

In the end, it turned out to be an easy victory for Sergio Lobera’s side, which is now at the top of the ISL table.

Scorecard

Ferran Corominas (45+1), Manuel Lanzarote (45+3), Adrian Colunga (85th) and Manuel Arana (88th) registered their name on the scoresheet for FC Goa.

For Delhi, Kalu Uche score one goal which was nothing more than a consolation for the host.

After both sides rattled the bar early on in the first half, FC Goa opened the scoring in a fortuitous fashion.

In the 45th minute, Delhi goalkeeper Sukhadev Patil, who had come into the match to replace the injured Albinos Gomes, failed to deal with Manuel Lanzarote’s free-kick. The ball ping-ponged in the 18-yard area before the in-form Ferran Corominas tapped it in to hand Goa the lead.

Almost immediately after the restart, Delhi conceded again. Having contributed to the first goal, Lanzarote smashed in a 30-yard curler to double the advantage for Lobera’s side on the stroke of half-time.

In the second half, Delhi Dynamos started off brightly and at the hour-mark, pulled one back.

Jeroen Lumu’s through-ball for Romeo Fernandes cut open FC Goa’s defence for once and the midfielder sent the ball across the goal for Kalu Uche to claim a simple tap-in.

Uche’s strike looked to ignite a comeback for Delhi but all its hopes were doused in the 66th minute when Gabriel Cichero was given marching orders by the referee after the Venezuelan picked up a second yellow.

Even after Cichero’s dismissal, Delhi worked hard but an own-goal by Pritam Kotal in the 84th minute opened the floodgates for FC Goa which hit two more goals to stun the home fans.

Just a minute after Kotal’s lunging effort to stop a low cross ended up in his own net, it was substitute Adrian Colunga’s turn to get his name on the scoresheet. Manuel Arana’s cross at the back post was volleyed in by Colunga in the 85th minute.

In the 88th minute, Arana, who had provided an assist earlier, latched on to a loose ball in the box to slam home Goa’s fifth goal of the night.