It was all South American magic at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, but an unfortunate Mohammedan SC still had to settle for a 1-1 draw against FC Goa in their second Hero Indian Super League (ISL) match.
It’s often said that statistics are not everything in football, and such was the case in this encounter. Though the scoreline showed a draw, it could have been a four-goal win for the Kolkata side. Multiple saves by Goa’s veteran goalkeeper, Laxmikanth Kattimani, some unlucky misses by Mohammedan’s forwards, and a brilliant headed equaliser from the former Mohun Bagan man, Armando Sadiku, in the 94th minute, saved a point for Manolo Marquez and his boys.
Goa’s defenders will have nightmares of attacks by Argentina’s Alexis Gomez and Brazil’s Carlos Franca. Two players from world football’s greatest rivals displayed their footballing brilliance in front of an underwhelming crowd, a little shy of 5,000. The brand of football Andrey Chernyshov’s boys played in Kolkata was of the highest pedigree. The maturity shown by the Mohammedan players made people forget that it was only their second match in the tournament. The only thing they will need to work on is to hold the scoreline till the end of the game — in both the games, they conceded goals in the dying minutes.
After an unfortunate loss against North East United in their campaign opener, a win was much deserved by Chernyshov and his boys. The deadlock was broken in the 66th minute from the penalty spot by Alexis, after Franca had been fouled inside the box by Goa’s skipper, Odei Zabala. The Spanish defender had no choice to bring him down as Franca ran on to a pass from Alexis.
Throughout the game, the Goa defenders found it difficult to hold these two South American attackers. Marquez, the FC Goa boss, had to take out both his central defenders, Zabala and Nim Dorjee Tamang, because of yellow cards.
The first half was dominated by the Black Panthers, though the scoreline didn’t reflect it. The Alexis-Franca pairing made life difficult for the Goa defence, and it was largely due to the efforts of Kattimani and Dorjee that the half ended goalless.
The only positive movement from Goa in the first half came in the fourth minute of the match — midfielder Boris Singh Thangjam had a chance from an acute angle, but it was saved by the Mohammedan goalkeeper, Padam Chhetri.
The Mohammedan defenders, led by Uzbekistan’s Mirjalol Kasimov, were rock-solid, supported by a strong performance from the midfield which didn’t let Goa have many chances to build up the play.
Unlucky for Mohammedan and Franca, his four shots were either blocked by the goalkeeper or hit the woodwork — they could have been 2-0 up in the first half itself. But his display showed the pedigree of a top striker.
The Mohammedan forwards kept on pushing the Goa defence. Even after their goal from the penalty spot, there were multiple instances where they could have increased the lead. They paid the price for all the missed chances. With five minutes to spare, Chernyshov substituted both Franca and Alexis — Franca seemed tired and Alexis was on a yellow card. Chernyshov mentioned later that the team was not at one hundred percent physically because they didn’t get enough pre-season. “Other teams played friendly matches and tournaments but we hardly got a month,” he said. “Down the line, the team will get results.”
It was evident that once those two players were substituted, the Goa midfielders were better at holding the ball and their attack had that sting in those final few minutes. They could focus more on the attack than marking Mohammedan’s two forwards. A curling cross from Aakash Sangwan was met with a clinical header by Albania’s Sadiku, with Mohammedan left to rue two points dropped.
Marquez, who is also the national team’s head coach, praised Mohammedan midfielder Bikash Singh, who came on as a substitute. “Though they have many good players, Bikash is one player who has impressed me a lot today,” he said after his side had earned their first point of the season the hard way.