FC Goa’s Noah Wail Sadaoui and Bengaluru FC’s Francisco Javier Hernandez Gonzalez vie for the ball during their Indian Super League 2023-24 season football match, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa, on March 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
FC Goa notched up a 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC to climb to the third spot in the points table in the Indian Super League here on Thursday.
The Gaurs now have 36 points from 19 games in the standings.
The Blues broke the deadlock within two minutes of kick-off, making a mark straight away from the commencement of the encounter.
Suresh Singh Wangjam pulled off a razor sharp through ball directed towards Chingangbam Shivaldo Singh, who received the ball with a sublime first touch and put the ball past Dheeraj Singh to draw the first blood.
FC Goa began gaining a grip over the game gradually and it was Noah Sadaoui who barged into the Bengaluru FC box and bashed the ball onto the side netting in the 18th minute.
The equaliser didn’t come their way, but it did indicate that things were slowly turning in the way of the Manolo Marquez-coached side.
Four minutes later, Brandon Fernandes lobbed in a cross from a corner, and the ball was directed on the path of Boris Singh stationed at the edge of the box.
The attacker shot in fiercely, but it took a deflection off defender Odei Onaindia to land into the back of the net with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu being unable to thwart the attack.
FC Goa was helped with a numerical advantage in the second half. Suresh, star of the setup of the goal by Shivaldo, was engaged in a challenge with Boris in the 47th minute, leading to the sending off of the former, bringing Bengaluru FC down to 10 players.
The Gaurs began holding the upper hand in possession and taking shots at the opposition more often thereafter.
They attacked the box from all ends, and bore the fruit of the same finally in the 81st minute.
Midfielder Borja Herrera curled in a cross to Boris on the left side of Gurpreet, with the former Jamshedpur FC winger netting the winner and getting the important three points for his team.