Goa turn it around,
Joffre’s early strike pushes Zico’s men to easy 3-0 victory
MARGAO, GOA: The second leg of any football tie, involves a lot of pressure. It is a test for managers to think of better ways to outwit their counterpart who already has learnt a few tricks from the earlier leg. In Tuesday’s clash between FC Goa and Delhi Dynamos in Goa, the challenge was for mentor Zico to keep apprentice Roberto Carlos in check. A few heated words and 90 minutes of football, the former came out on top as his side rallied to score thrice on the night to clinch the two-leg tie 3-1.
The heat was on and tempers flew early into the game. Zico and Carlos got into a war of words soon after kick-off, it did not matter that Carlos had shook hands with him just seconds before kick-off.
The duo and even their respective players on the bench went onto exchange multiple bust-ups, during the course of the match. During the fag end of the game, as the tie slipped out of their hands, the Delhi players seemed to have gone over the edge. Adil Nabi was even sent off after getting into a tiff with the fourth official.
Earlier though, it was Carlos and his men who had started the game on a higher footing, with a 1-0 lead going into the second leg. It was Zico who looked on edge early into the game. The initial FC Goa 3 Delhi Dynamos 0 Joffre 11, Coelho 27, Dudu 84 Goa FC won 3-1 on aggregate
aggression though, was not unfounded, the plan put in place would eventually reap fine dividends for him and the fans that had packed into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
FIVE CHANGES
Trailing by a goal Zico made as many as five changes to the side, giving starts to Indian players Romeo Fernandes, Mandar Desai and Bikramjit for the crucial clash. Each one returning inspired performances aiding in their side’s fine victory.
With their top-scorer Reinaldo missing the game due to injury, the onus was other the youngsters to step up their game.
Desai, in fact, made the crucial assist to send Rafael Coelo through for the team’s second goal in the 23rd minute. The home-side had earlier opened their account, with a solo-run by Joffre Gonzalez in the 11th minute.
The Goa outfit put the match beyond Delhi’s reach late in the second half as Dudu scored in the 84th minute, after Romeo created a chance from a difficult position to leave Dudu to just make a simple tap in.
Carlos, who had started with an unchanged side from the first leg, was forced onto the back foot as his go-to man in defence John Arne Risse just seemed out of shape.
The Norwegian, who has been manning Delhi’s backline competently so far this season, was guilty of losing his man that resulted in Goa’s first two goals. The Brazilian coach took Risse off in the 30th minute. The former Liverpool and AS Roma was seen wearing the support staff uniform in the second half on the bench.
Speaking after the game, Carlos said that Risse had hurt his head and he thought at the time that taking him off was the right decision.
However, with Risse out, Delhi’s backline was vulnerable. However, Delhi tried to keep the attacks going. The ploy though did not last long as a ruthless Goa side, egged on by the vociferous support of the home fans, shut out any hopes Delhi harboured. In the second half in fact the game slipped away as there were multiple clashes among the players from both sides as tackles flew regularly. And Rafael was taken off after coming for special attention by the opposition.
However, with five days to go for the final, the team now have some time to rest and take stock as they await the outcome of the second semifinal clash between Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata.