Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the ISL 2020-21 encounter between FC Goa and SC East Bengal in Goa on Friday.
Thats' all we have for you. We will be back again with Mumbai City FC vs NorthEast United FC tomorrow. [ MATCH PREVIEW ] Until then, it's good night.
MATCH REPORT |
Robbie Fowler: " We were the one team that wanted to win it. We should have beat them twice this season. We started behind but the second half performance was outstanding. Frustrated with referee's performance. Thought it was awful. Everytime the players went near our players, he was getting conned. I am not sure if its anti English or anti East Bengal thing, we get no help whatsoever. Our players are getting swiped all the time. [On decisions evening out & wrongly awarded penalty to East Bengal] What about all the other penalties? I am not going to get into an arguement here. Even in injury time we saw players going down but he hasn't added time on. We are at the end of the season, how much can they learn? They can't make keeping mistakes every time. I have been vocal on this. Whoever makes the loudest noise, the referee quickly gets the card out. Maybe I should ask my players to do the same. I do believe they are trying but they need help because there's a lot at stake. There is a lot of eyes watching them and this doesn't good on the league. I like Rafi but sometimes coaches need to make a decision where things are not done the way we want to. We had lot of chances in the second half. We need to start winning games to get up the table and be where we want to be. We have looked so much beter in the last 8-9 games. I take my hats off to the lads."
Post match comments to follow..
After having gone down a goal, SC East Bengal fought back to equalise through skipper Fox's goal. Edu Bedia then got himself sent off with 24 minutes left on the clock leaving Goa's rejigged back four and new goalkeeper to defend well to come out with a point. Every attack went through Bright Enobhakare for East Bengal but the team couldn't find that big chance to take the lead. Both teams remain in their original positions before kick-off: Goa in 3rd with 21 points, East Bengal is 10th with 13. ISL 2020: Points Table
FULL-TIME.
90'+6' Noguera wins a corner for Goa. Poor corner kick and that's cleared away. That's the end of the game.
90'+5' Foul called against SCEB after Neville catches Gama's leg while going for a shot inside the Goa box.
90'+4' FCG SUB: Ortiz OFF, Pandita ON
90'+3' Amadi runs into the box and sets up Chhetri, who backheels it for Pilkington. Pilkington's shot is deflected and falls in front of goal for Hamranpreet, whose shot on the turn is saved well by Dheeraj!
Five minutes of added time.
90' Gox is booked for a lunging tackle on Redeem. Lucky that. That was two-footed and he escaped with just a yellow.
88' Cross into the Goa box and Aiban nearly heads it into his own goal. Corner for SCEB. Referee calls foul against Pilkington for climbing on top of Devendra.
86' SCEB SUB: Maghoma OFF, Amadi-Holloway ON
83' Bright with another dribbling run past Ali to get into the Goa box but his cross is cut out by Princeton behind for a corner.
80' Bright skips past two Goa players on the left and runs into the box but his pass is cut out but falls at the feet off Maghoma. His shot from outside the box is deflected behind for a corner.
78' GOA SUBS: Angulo, Romario OFF, Devendra, Redeem ON
77' Bright drives with the ball into the Goa box from the middle of the pitch before Gama brings him down with a shoulder barge but the referee says no penalty.
76' Water break taken.
75' Narayan fires in a cross into the box and Harmanpreet takes a touch and fires it on goal but Dheeraj keeps it out with a strong right arm!
This was Edu Bedia's first sending off of his Goa career.
70' Adil with a poor backpass as he fires it high into the air which sees Dheeraj and Pilkington collide inside the Goa box as they go for the header. Both players are down inside the box.
66' RED CARD! Edu Bedia is sent off! Pilkington nicks the ball of Bedia and the Goa midfielder scythes down the EB forward. Referee has no option but to give him his second booking.
65' GOAL! Foxx!! FCG 1-1 SCEB! Poor from Dheeraj as he fails to deal with Pilkington's inswinging freekick and the ball bobbles up for Fox to hammer it into the net!
64' Noguera brings down Bright as he turns away from him. ANother freekick outside Goa's box.
62' Bright fouled just outside Goa's box by Romario. Edu Bedia booked for a foul on Pilkington in the lead up to that move. But Bedia seems to have come off worse from that challenge.
59' Yellow card for Saviour Gama for a foul on Ankit.
57' Bright with superb feet down the left side with a dribbling run before cutting it back into the penalty area where Angpusana fires it over the bar.
56' Narayan's cross finds Pilkington inside the box and he makes room to fire in a shot which takes a deflection behind for a corner.
53' Noguera with a superb solo run from the middle of the park into the East Bengal box but his right footed shot is scuffed and goes wide of goal.
50' Challenges flying in and Pilkington fouls Bedia again. Melee breaks out between both sets of players.
49' Back-to-back fouls on Bedia by Narayan and Pilkington.
48' Corner for SCEB and Dheeraj gets a crucial touch to get the ball away from an SCEB head.
46' Goa gets the second period underway. SCEB change: Gharami OUT, Angousana IN
SECOND HALF
Half-time. Goa goes into the break with a lead thanks to Angulo's well-taken finish. Both teams have been sloppy with their passing from the back but Goa has just enough quality to take its chances. Pilkington would be ruing his penalty miss in just the second minute of the game.
Two minutes of added time.
45' Inswinging corner into the Goa goal and Dheeraj needed to stick his arm out to push the ball away from goal.
42' Ankit swings in a cross into the Goa box with three EB players waiting in for it. The referee blows a foul against Jeje for a foul on Ali.
39' GOAL! Angulooo! FCG 1-0 SCEB. Ajay Chhetri's pass is nicked by Goa and Noguera plays in a superb through ball behind East Bengal's defence into Noguera. The striker rounds up Debjit before slotting the ball into the back of the net. This is his 10th goal of the season.
37' From a narrow angle, Ortiz goes for goal and Debjit does well to push the ball onto the crossbar and out for a corner.
36' Ajay Chhetri concedes a freekick by pulling down Noguera on the left side of East Bengal's box.
34' Pilkington turns inside the box and lays it off for Bright but his shot is blocked.
32' SCEB SUB: Rafique OFF, Ankit ON
30' Drinks break taken.
29' Jeje holds up the ball with his strength before driving into Goas box to play it into Bright. Bright dribbles past a Goa defender before squaring it into Pilkington, whose backheel flick is cleared by a Goa defender.
26' Fox is down on the floor and is receiving some treatment.
24' Ortiz drops into midfield to get the ball before driving forward into the East Bengal final third and the ball ricochets into the feet of Angulo. The striker makes room and fires a shot at goal but its straight at Debjit.
21' Corner for East Bengal and Dheeraj struggling to command the box for the delivery. He comes out rushing twice but can't get to the ball but luckily for him, Gama clears it out.
19' Bright with a superb run to get past two Goa players on the left wing before hooking in a ball which needed Gama and Ali to clear away from danger.
17' Referee having a chat with Bedia and Bright after an off the ball incident between the pair.
15' Angulo concedes a freekick for a high boot on Neville.
14' Bright drives with the ball from the back. But East Bengal play it back again before conceding possession.
Bright is dropping deep to pick up the ball to help East Bengal create from the back.
9' Bedia can't get his freekick on target. Hits it wide of the near post.
8' Fox concedes a freekick after catching Noguera with a lunging tackle just outside the East Bengal box.
7' Romario intercepts an East Bengal pass and takes a shot from distance which is narrowly wide of the near post!
5' Noguera nicks the ball from Ajay and slips in a through ball for Noguera, whose shot is saved by Debjit!
3' Freekick for Goa from the left. Ortiz's inswinging delivery is met by Bedia on the turn but he redirects the ball wide.
2' MISSED! Anthony Pilkington blasts it wide! What a chance squandered for the Red and Golds!
1' East Bengal kicks off proceedings from left to right. PENALTY! Ali clips the feet of Narayan Das after Aiban sold him short with a backpass.
FIRST HALF
7.24 pm: Both teams make their way out to the middle. East Bengal will play in its black away kit and Goa will play in its home colours.
7.20 pm: Just 10 minutes away from kick-off. Goa coach Juan Ferrando will be suspended from the sidelines.
6.47 pm: Five changes for FC Goa too from the draw against Kerala Blasters. Devendra, Donachie, Gonzalez, Seriton, Naveen - OUT. Angulo, Adil, Aiban, Ali, Dheeraj - IN.
6.43 pm: Five changes for SC East Bengal from its 0-1 defeat to Mumbai City FC. Steinman, Milan, Surchandra, Ankit, Harmanpreet - OUT. Bright, Chhetri, Rafique, Gharami, Jeje - IN
6.30 pm: The team news is in
FC Goa XI (4-2-3-1)
Dheeraj Singh; Mohamed Ali, Adil Khan, Aiban Dohling, Saviour Gama; Princeton Rebello, Edu Bedia; Alexander Jesuraj, Alberto Noguera, Jorge Mendoza; Igor Angulo
SC East Bengal XI (4-3-3)
Debjit Majumder; Rana Gharami, Scott Neville, Daniel Fox, Narayan Das; Ajay Chhetri, Mohammed Rafique, Jacques Maghoma; Anthony Pilkington, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Bright Enobakhare
6.27 pm: Donachie is pictured at the venue. Could he be a surprise inclusion in the XI?
6.20 pm: Big game for FC Goa which will take the field without regular centrebacks Ivan Gonzalez (suspended) and James Donachie (injury) . Adil Khan, who joined on loan from Hyderabad FC last week, is in line to make his debut at the back.
6.05 pm: Here's our predicted line-ups for the match
FC Goa predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Naveen Kumar; Seriton Fernandes, Adil Khan, Aiban Dohling, Saviour Gama; Lenny Rodrigues, Edu Bedia; Alberto Noguera, Brandon Fernandes, Jorge Mendoza; Igor Angulo
SC East Bengal predicted XI (3-4-3)
Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Daniel Fox, Raju Gaikwad; Ankit Mukherjee, Matti Steinmann, Milan Singh, Narayan Das; Anthony Pilkington, Bright Enobakhare, Harmanpreet Singh
LIVE UPDATES:
5:45 PM: Podcast - The merger between ATK and Mohun Bagan for ISL 2020-21 seemed like a match made in heaven, but fans didn't look pleased. Our reporters Shyam Vasudevan, Aashin Prasad and Amitabha Das Sharma delve into the reasons behind fans' displeasure and the raging hashtag #RemoveATK in the latest episode of 'The Full Time Show'.
Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 .
The seventh edition of the Indian Super League got underway inside a bio-bubble in Goa on November 20.
The tournament, spanning over four months, will see 11 teams play each other in a league and playoff format across three venues. Following the inclusion of SC East Bengal, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.
MATCH PREVIEW:
FC Goa will face a tough test when it takes on a resurgent SC East Bengal in an ISL fixture at the Fatorda Stadium on Friday. Having played out a 1-1 draw against a 10-man East Bengal in the first phase of the tournament, Goa will have to muster an inspired performance to go one better in the return engagement.
The task will be challenging for the host as it will be without its key central defenders, Ivan Gonzalez and James Donachie. Gonzalez is serving a suspension owing to the red card he received in the 1-1 draw against Kerala Blasters. Donachie limped off midway through the action in the same match and is likely to be ruled out. Goa will also be without its coach Juan Ferrando, who received the suspension in the bruising contest with Kerala.
“The most important thing about this team during this period (unbeaten run) is the adaptation to the new style of the coach,” said FC Goa assistant coach and former India player Clifford Miranda about his team’s unbeaten run in the past six matches where it won thrice. “We are moving towards our objective step by step on the path laid out by our head coach,” he added.
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The standout event in the two sides’ last meeting was the world-class solo goal from East Bengal’s Bright Enobakhare. The young Nigerian striker has since been a key man in the East Bengal line-up ever since then. “He is a good player, there's no doubt about it and has helped SC East Bengal improve its showing since his arrival. But there's no such plan to stop one player because if we start concentrating on him, there are nine other outfield players who can hurt us. We will play the way we play,” Miranda said.
East Bengal, which lost the last outing 1-0 against current leader Mumbai City FC after a seven match unbeaten run, will be keen to wrest a point from the Goa outfit. Despite losing against Mumbai City, East Bengal put up a good fight and remained alive in the game right until the end. This is the point that will inspire the visitor.
"It's certainly an opportunity to get back to the winning ways,” said the former Everton and Manchester City midfielder Tony Grant, who is now assisting Liverpool legend and head coach Robbie Fowler. “This season we lost our captain (Danny Fox) early on and it hurt us. It is going to hurt every team that is missing two of its better players," Grant said looking at the possible absentees in the Goa team.
It will be interesting if Goa fields India defender Adil Khan, who recently joined the club on-loan from Hyderabad FC. Similarly East Bengal has former Indian goalkeeper Subrata Paul, who has also been loaned out by Hyderabad. Paul returns to the red and gold squad after a break of 12 years.
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