Spanish forward Ferran Corominas struck twice as FC Goa blanked Jamshedpur FC 3-0 to seal a last-four spot in an eventful Indian Super League match which saw both the rival goalkeepers being red-carded in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
FC Goa needed at least a draw to seal its spot in the final four, but the win at the JRD Tata Sports Complex took it to third in the points table, one place above FC Pune City.
The Goan side will take on Chennaiyin FC in the last four while table topper Bengaluru FC faces FC Pune City in the other play-off match.
Jamshedpur fought valiantly but is now out of the reckoning and will look forward to the Super Cup after finishing fifth in the league.
It took just seven minutes for the first major event of the match. Jamshedpur had started with a lot of attacking intent, but were left deflated when Subrata Paul handled the ball outside the area and got himself sent off.
With a man down, the home side were staring at an ominous result.
Head coach Steve Coppell sacrificed Bikash Jairu to send in goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh and he conceded at the half-hour mark. It was a typical free-flowing move from Goa. Hugo Boumous slipped Seriton Fernandes through, and his cross was missed by Tiri, leaving Corominas to score from the far post with ease.
Souvik Chakrabarti and Izu Azuka combined a few times to threaten the visiting side goal, but while it put pressure on the defence, it failed to break Goa down convincingly.
Jamshedpur had no option but to chase the match and that left big gaps at the back. Lanzarote’s aerial through ball found Corominas on the run, and he slammed it past the goalkeeper after excellent technique to control the ball.
With a two-goal cushion, the visitor started attacking with all its force to finish the match off. Ahmed Jahouh took a rasping effort from a distance which struck the woodwork, but FC Goa soon found the third goal.
This time it was Corominas’ pass that was cleverly left by Edu Bedia to run onto Lanzarote. The attacker measured his finish and neatly tucked it into the back of the net.
Things got interesting when FC Goa lost its goalkeeper Naveen Kumar for exactly the same reason Jamshedpur did -- but this comedy of errors came too late for Jamshedpur to make the most of it.
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