Goa Khabar : FC Goa arrived at this GPL Super League fixture with momentum behind them, fresh from qualifying for the National Championship Stage of the Reliance Foundation League.
The opening exchanges were dominated by the visitors with Asher Rodrigues and others testing a well-organised Geno FC rearguard that refused to buckle. Early chances came and went, each one met with composure by the Geno defence and particularly by keeper Akshat Hadkonkar who collected a dangerous Rodrigues effort with calm authority. Then, with the game entering its final minutes before the break Geno FC stole what felt like an undeserved advantage. Vasim Inamdar struck to make it 1-0 on the stroke of half-time a punch that left FC Goa’s superior first-half performance unrewarded and sent the teams into the interval with the scoreline entirely at odds with the balance of play.
FC Goa came out for the second half with clear intent and immediately picked up where they had left off. Shawn Fernandes found himself in a pocket of space inside the penalty area just after the hour mark and with defenders swarming around him, managed to get a strike away only for the effort to drift agonisingly wide of the target. Geno then threatened on the counter Sankalp Kankonkar forcing a sharp reaction save from FC Goa keeper Lionel Rymmei with a header before sending another effort just over the bar. Both keepers were earning their wages and the match was balanced on a knife’s edge until, with ten minutes remaining FC Goa finally found the goal their second half had demanded.
A delivery into a crowded FC Goa box broke kindly to Malsawmtluanga who reacted quickest and steered the ball into the net to make it 1-1. The comeback was on and with three minutes of stoppage time signalled, FC Goa pressed for the winner with the urgency of a team that sensed destiny was on their side. It arrived in the final moments of added time. Substitute Freden Mendes, introduced quarter of an hour from time picked out Shawn Fernandes with a precise pass and Fernandes did the rest a composed mid-range finish that settled the contest and sealed all three points. At full time, Geno FC 1-2 FC Goa. A result that moves the visitors to 29 points in the GPL Super League Table.
