Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Igor Angulo emerged as FC Goa’s match-winner yet again as he steered his side to a 2-1 smash-and-grab win over Hyderabad FC in their Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Wednesday.
A lovely backward header from substitute Ishan Pandita, within 30 seconds of coming on, and a stoppage-time strike from Angulo saw Goa climb to the third spot on the table. Juan Ferrando’s side, which conceded first, has now earned eight points from losing situations this season.
Neither side gave each other an inch in a cagey opening 45. Hyderabad pressed Goa deep inside its half, drawing the errors by forcing the ‘keeper and defenders to rush to the ball. However, the first real chance fell to Angulo in the 43rd minute when Brandon Fernades found him with a lob but the Spaniard headed wide.
Hyderabad registered its first shot, and the game’s first attempt on target, in the 54th minute when Joao Victor stung Mohammad Nawaz’s gloves. It was a sign of things to come as Manolo Marquez’s side took the lead four minutes later through Aridane Santana, who struck a fine header from Asish Rai’s cross.
FC Goa’s Achilles Heel this season, its inability to defend set-pieces, came back to haunt it as the goal came from a throw-in on the right.
The goal spurred life into Santana, Hyderabad’s leading scorer, as his piledriver four minutes later was palmed onto the crossbar by Nawaz. Goa should have equalised in the 70th minute when Brandon whipped in a delightful ball across the goal, but Jorge Ortiz fell just short of the cross. Santana beat Nawaz once again in the 71st with a fine header, but he was ruled offside.
As luck would have it, Goa would equalise from a set-piece in the 87th minute. Edu Bedia whipped in a delicious free-kick and Pandita, who had come on moments earlier, timed his run to perfection to score off his first touch. Goa completed the phenomenal turn around as Angulo, who has played alongside the likes of Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos in Spain’s age-group teams, sealed the win in the 90th minute.
Angulo, the league’s top-scorer, darted down the left before cutting the ball to his right and slotted it past Laxmikant Kattimani to power his side to victory in the final game of the year.
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