FC Goa rode on ace striker Ferran Corominas' brace to hammer five goals past NorthEast United turned FC and soar to a 5-1 win in their Indian Super League clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.
Corominas twin strikes put him on par with ISL's all-time top-scorer Iain Hume’s tally of 28 goals. Edu Bedia, Hugo Bumous and Miguel Palanca also got on the scoresheet for the host, while Bartholomew Ogbeche scored a consolation for the visitor in the dying stages of the game. The win propels FC Goa to the third spot on the ISL table with 20 points from 11 games, a place above NorthEast United.
FC Goa had a chance in the very first minute when a poor touch from Gurwinder Singh allowed Jackichand Singh to get a shot away which hit the side-netting. Boumous, who found a lot of space to operate, then saw Coro and Mourtada Fall fail to get a touch to his inviting cross into the box.
Despite sustained intent from the Gaurs, NorthEast hung on and slowly grew into the game. Though it did create a couple of half-chances towards the end of the first half, nothing concrete came off them.
However, the side showed a spirited display after the break and had a golden chace to take the lead in the 54th minute when Federico Gallego played Redeem Tlang through on goal. The winger eased past Mandar Rao Dessai and reached the byline but could not control the ball and ended up rolling it towards goalkeeper Mohammed Nawaz, who cleared it for a corner.
Goa was fortunate to escape an appeal for a handball inside the box but Sergio Lobera’s team responded by surging into the lead in the 59th minute. Jackichand was afforded space down the right wing and his cross was acrobatically turned in by Coro to end his goal drought.
The strike opened the floodgates as Goa returned to its freescoring style of football. Edu Bedia slipped past Gurwinder Singh in the 69th minute before executing a delightful chip to make it 2-0. Brandon Fernandes’ low cross was expertly steered home by Boumous two minutes later as NorthEast United looked stunned.
Goa went for the kill and bagged another goal when Boumous played a fine cross across the box and Coro tapped home his 10th goal of the campaign.
Ogbeche’s late consolation goal for NorthEast United, however, would not dampen the party in Goa as Miguel Palanca added a fifth for the Gaurs after a surging run into the box in injury time.
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