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That's all from my end. Sportstar will be back again with the match-report, talking points and podcast reviewing the contest over the next 24 hours. Until then, it's good night.
Full time: Goa 1-1 Bengaluru- "Believe in Coro" is what one of the placards in the stands reads. Coro lived up to the belief of the Goa fans as he equalised at death to snatch points from Bengaluru. The Blues must be annoyed as this is a second straight draw for them. As for The Gaurs, they fought back well into a game which was being dominated by Cuadrat and Co.
90+5' - OH MY WORD! Doungel nearly makes it 2-1 for Goa as Brandon fires a frightening cross from the right. Manvir too went for the header at the far post but Doungel's header just falls short of the goal. All of this comes just before everyone nearly leaves the field as they confuse the whistle to be blown. Uff, what a game of football eversince Bengaluru found the lead!
90+3' - GOAL! COROMINAS SCORES A LATE EQUALISER! The Spaniard sends Gurpreet the wrong way as Coro shoots a thumping strike into the net. GOA 1-1 BENGALURU.
90+2' - PENALTY! Ashique brings down Corominas in the box and the host has a penalty kick awarded.
90+1' - Four minutes have been introduced here.
90' - Coming in from the right, Udanta tries to cut back a cross for Chhetri but Saviour pushes it out for a corner. Lyngdoh takes it short, before Udanta dinks it for Lyngdoh in the box, who showcases his brilliant footwork but is flagged offside.
89' - Augusto buys time for his side as he slowly dribbles his way past Fall. Fall brings him down and Augusto wins a free-kick for the visiting side. Nothing comes off it.
87' - Final change for Bengaluru - Haokip replaces Khabra. Khabra has been taken off on a stretcher. Meanwhile, Augusto is handed a yellow card for his foul on Brandon.
86' - CLEARED! Jahouh with a through pass for Jackichand on the right. The latter runs with the ball and tries to square it for an onrushing Manvir but Serran blocks! Goa is desperate for a goal here.
84' - CHANCE! Instead of going for the goal, Jackichand crosses the ball for Manvir on the other end a lobbed ball is played in for Jackichand. What a wasteful effort!
NEWS: Away from India, playing in the Sheikh Kamal Cup in Bangladesh, Gokulam Kerala has been defeated by Abahani Dhaka in the semis. Stay tuned for full details from that match on our website.
81' - Udanta, the goal scorer, picks up a yellow for high-boot challenge on substitute Saviour.
80' - Second change for Goa as defender Saviour comes on for Mandar. Can Goa bounce back in this game? 10 minutes of regulation time pending here.
77' - Mandar, the skipper, picks up a yellow card for his tackle on Dimas.
73' - Fan favourite Lyngdoh comes on as he replaces Onwu.
72' - Jahouh gets a yellow card for his foul on Dimas. It's 1-0 in the favour of Bengaluru.
71' - First change for Goa as Jackichand comes on for Lenny -- an attacking change from Lobera.
69' - What a clearance from Seriton! Udanta sprints down the right wing before he twists and turns to find Chhetri with a cross in the box. However, Seriton steps up to save The Gaurs as he blocks it awau. Beautiful, beautiful effort from Seriton, the local boy.
67' - CLOSE! Fall's header just falls wide of the goal just as the home side gears up for an equaliser.
62' - GOAL! Udanta Singh makes it Bengaluru 1-0 FC Goa. A defensive goof-up between Mandar and Fall in the box allows Udanta to rush towards the goal. He has Nawaz to beat whom he easily does, with a left-footed clinical finish. Fall tries to recover from the mistake, but it is too late. Udanta has the goal, which is the 994th goal of the Indian Super League!
60' - Brandon keeps the ball in play just as it is about to to roll out. He sets up Manvir up top but the youngster is flagged offside! Manvir, though, was in his own self...umm, wrong decision maybe?
58' - Brandon takes the set-piece; the elevation on the free-kick is too strong as he goes out of the park. We are coming close to the one-hour mark.
57' - Coro goes down as three players try to close down on him, making him trip in the process. Goa has a free-kick from a dangerous spot!
54' - Serran comes on Bheke. It's still 0-0.
50' - Cheeky from Chhetri! In what seemed like a training routine from Bengaluru, the corner-kick is played for Chhetri, who makes the run from the near post to the far post. He tries an overhead kick but shoots it over. Meanwhile, the Goa technical area has gotten the referee's attention for misconduct, perhaps. And the member gets a yellow card!
49' - BLOCK! Chhetri picks out Ashique, who cuts in from the left to penetrate the box, but Fall comes to Goa's rescue with a block!
48' - Udanta does well to lift the ball over two players in the box and get a cross away, but it's managed to evade the advances of Onwu.
46' - Second half begins. No changes made in the teams yet.
Half time: Goa 0-0 Bengaluru: No goals in the first half as both sides are yet to have a shot on target. Bengaluru has been pressing well but neither have Onwu nor Chhetri gotten on the scoresheet.
45' - Augusto takes a free-kick for Bengaluru in a dangerous position but he sends it straight to Mandar who chests it away. One additional minute has been introduced here.
41' - Applauding Ashique's performance so far, the visiting Bengaluru fans sing ' Ashique banaya aapne ' referring to the Bollywood song/film ' Aashiq banaya aapne ', released in 2005.
39' - CHANCE! Doungel heads away an attempt at the goal line to deny the visitor a chance from a corner-kick taken by Dimas!
37' - Seriton with some skills! He gets beyond two defenders as he displays good footwork. Later, he dinks the ball for Manvir in the box but the striker doesn't head it in!
34' - Dimas sends an aerial ball forward for Chhetri near the box but the Indian skipper's jump isn't enough to connect with the ball. Seriton had nothing to worry there, while marking him.
31' - What a ball from Manvir! He picks out the perfect space between the Bengaluru defenders as he sends a through ball for Mandar. Mandar pushes forward on the left wing but is flagged offside, just as his shot is collected by Gurpreet. The move was started out from the back, thanks to Seriton, Lenny and Pena combining beautifully.
29' - Udanta squares the ball for Dimas in the center, who shoots from a long range but sends it wide.
27' - Ashique pushes forward on the left as he is played in a pass from Augusto. He cuts in and fires a cross, which rolls out of the park on the right side.
22' - Augusto does well to use his pace as he attacks from the field. He puts in a cross for Udanta from a tight angle, but Mandar clears it. Bengaluru is given a corner-kick, but nothing worthwhile comes out of it. It is still 0-0 in Fatorda.
18' - Jahouh takes a free-kick for Goa, and he aims for Fall at the far post. Juanan marks Fall and heads away the delivery played into the box.
16' - The chants of ' Campeone, ole ole ole ' can be heard from the visiting section. Bengaluru is the defending ISL champion.
13' - Udanta fluffs a chance to score from the box as he shoots into Mandar. The ricocheted ball is cleared, only to be hit again by Harmanjot but Coro spots it. Later, on the counter, Manvir runs with the ball on the left flank but fails to go beyond Nishu and Bheke.
10' - SAVE! Nawaz parries away Udanta's cross from the right, which was played for Chhetri The right wing set up Udanta well with the ball, but Nawaz did well to palm it away before Chhetri could head it in.
8' - Coro puts up a ball to Manvir as he wins the ball from a crowd of players. Manvir plays a through ball for Doungel, who runs at it but Gurpreet comes off the line to get to it first.
3' - Jahouh sends a lobbed ball over the Bengaluru midfield, which is aimed for Doungel. He runs in from the right but can't chase Jahouh's pass. Ashique was marking the super quick Doungel.
1' - Kick off! The first half begins.
- The match will be a repeat of last year's final which saw Bheke score the winner. Both teams have retained a number of players from last season, but Bengaluru roped in a gem of a player in Ashique. He, though, has been deployed as a wing-back on the left, unlike the usual left midfield role that he operates in.
- As for visiting side Bengaluru, Carles Cuadrat has retained the same XI that shared spoils with NorthEast United in the previous fixture. The Blues could play in a 4-3-3 shape, wherein Augusto is a key player in their attacking build-up.
- FC Goa sees the return of defensive midfielder Ahmed Jahouh, who comes back from suspension. Among domestic players, Jackichand Singh is kept out as Brandon Fernandes could feature in the three-man midfield as Goa seems to line up in a 4-2-3-1 shape. Coro could play in the number 10 role like he did in Goa's 3-0 win over Chennaiyin.
RECAP OF YESTERDAY
Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC were wasteful upfront as both sides squandered chances aplenty and shared the spoils in a goalless draw in their clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Full match report: Chennaiyin, Mumbai settle for goalless draw
Talking points, review: Finishing woes, Amrinder's heroics and more
HEAD-T0-HEAD
In recent times, Bengaluru has had an upper hand over Sergio Lobera’s men. Whilst both the teams finished level on points at the end of the league stage, the Blues got the better of them on all the three occasions the sides had met.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Bengaluru win 2-1 to inflict upon the Gaurs, their only loss at home in the league stage.
MATCH PREVIEW
Although it began with a bang against Chennaiyin FC but last year’s runner-up, FC Goa will test its preparations for the fresh season when it takes on reigning champion Bengaluru FC today.
The Goans were clinical in their opening game. With eight Indians in the starting line-up, they dominated the game throughout and carved out an impressive 3-0 win against Chennaiyin.
They not only showed off their free-flowing attacking style whilst going forward but also resoluteness at the back as the defence looked unperturbed for the majority of the game.
With Ahmed Jahouh returning from suspension and the duo of Hugo Boumous and Edu Bedia also in consideration for a spot, they are expected to fight even better.
Full schedule of ISL 2019: Matches, timings, and more
Goa’s attacking verve will surely be a test of early validity for Bengaluru’s defence of the title.
Bengaluru started its title-defence with a goalless draw against NorthEast United. Whilst the Blues enjoyed the lions’ share of possession and dictated the tempo of the game, they failed to capitalise on the chances created — not looking all that clinical in the final third.
However, with players such as Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Dimas Delgado and Raphael Augusto in their ranks, you would be safe to bet that they will soon shake off their early-season rust.
The last game saw Bengaluru being without the services of Erik Paartalu and Albert Serran — both being ruled out because of injuries. It will be interesting to see what line-up the Blues will put forth in their game against the Gaurs.
MATCH BROADCAST DETAILS:
FC Goa vs Bengaluru FC will be shown on Star Sports network and can also be streamed live on Hotstar. The kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM IST.
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