ISL 2024-25: FC Goa break 13-game winless run against Mumbai City FC with a 3-1 victory

Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS) Iker Guarrotxena scored a brace and Borja Herrera contributed one goal as FC Goa defeated Mumbai City FC 3-1 in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Wednesday to break their 13-game-long winless run against the Islanders in the competition.

The Gaurs have thus strengthened their hold on the second spot, bagging 39 points after 20 games with 11 victories and six draws now, as a brace by Guarrotxena and a solitary strike by Herrera in the second essay swung the game in their favour. Lallianzuala Chhangte converted a penalty for the lone consolation for Mumbai City in the seventh minute of added time.

Guarrotxena attacked the Mumbai City defence single-handedly, taking the onus to score the first goal with a brilliant effort in the 24th minute.

Picking the ball at the edge of the 18-yard box, Guarrotxena tip-toed the entire Mumbai City FC defence laterally before getting to a central position, still outside the penalty area, before drilling the ball into the bottom right corner to capture the lead. The attacker returned to trouble the Islanders when Borja Herrera served him a cross five minutes later, to which the former took a mistimed header that was blocked in time.

However, the Spanish forward doubled the lead for the visitors through the help of Udanta Singh in the 41st minute. The surge of FC Goa offences hadn’t stopped and Guarrotxena made the most of it by positioning perfectly at the centre of the box as Udanta dragged the Mumbai City FC players behind with a darting run down the right flank, beating his nearest marker Vikram Partap Singh.

Udanta’s cross barged into the box and met Guarrotxena with absolute perfection, who slotted it into the bottom right corner precisely.

At the brink of the hour mark, Jorge Ortiz laid out a pass for Vikram at a difficult angle, quite distant from the goal on the right side. Vikram rushed his eventual shot but landed the effort on target still, which was saved by Hrithik Tiwari between the posts. Soon afterwards, Herrera got FC Goa a cushion of an additional goal when he timed his run inside the box perfectly, to jump up on a meek headed clearance by Mehtab Singh. Herrera was unmarked and he deposited the ball into the bottom right corner in the 64th minute.

Ortiz tried to pull strings back in at the other end, stretching the Gaurs and thumping in a cross for Jon Toral a couple of minutes later. It was saved in the top right corner by Tiwari though with the eventual shot lacking the finesse required to cut the deficit. Toral turned provider by finding Lallianzuala Chhangte in the centre of the box in the 78th minute with a slick delivery that the skipper was unable to convert and instead shot high and wide on the left.

Manolo Marquez jumped upon the chance to close out the game by bringing in Dejan Drazic, Seriton Fernandes, and Sahil Tavora for Herrera, Udanta, and Ayush Dev Chhetri just prior to the 90th-minute mark.

The Gaurs were thus fortified for the added time of the second half, but a foul by goalkeeper Tiwari led to the Islanders gaining a spot-kick late into the game. Chhangte stepped up and converted the penalty with a left-footed shot in the centre of the net to gain a consolation goal, depriving the Gaurs of the clean sheet, though they walked away with all three points.

FC Goa will next play against Kerala Blasters FC on February 22, whereas Mumbai City FC will square off against Hyderabad FC on February 19.

–IANS

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