FC Goa and Jamshedpur FC were reduced to eight men at the restart and a second-half mauling sealed a 5-1 win for the Gaurs in the quarter-final of the Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
Brandon Fernandes (34') opened the scoring in the first half. A Ferran Corominas spot-kick (69') set off a second-half rout, with Manvir Singh (77') and Hugo Boumous (78', 89') piling the misery on their opponents. Ashim Biswas (90+2') netted a consolation goal right at the end for a hapless Jamshedpur side.
Laxmikant Kattimani replaced Naveen Kumar in goal as Derick Pereira made just one change to the team that thrashed ATK in the Round-Of-16. Hugo Boumous and Edu Bedia slotted into the midfield and Ferran Corominas led the line, flanked by Brandon Fernandes and Mandar Rao Dessai.
Steve Coppell made three changes to the side that knocked out I-League champions Minerva Punjab on penalties in the last round. Subrata Paul returned to the starting lineup and replaced shoot-out hero Sanjiban Ghosh. Jerry Mawihmingthanga and debutant Sairuat Kima came into the team in place of Bikash Jairu and Farukh Chowdhury.
FC Goa stamped their authority on the game early on, with Hugo Boumous once again picking up the mantle in midfield. Quick feet and wonderful range of passing were put on display and if it wasn't for Subarata Paul, Jamshedpur would have trailed as early as the sixth minute of the game.
Mandar's one-two with Boumous was a delight to watch. The Moroccan midfielder nutmegged Anas Edathodika and returned the ball to the Indian winger who skipped past Andre Bikey and shot. Subrata pulled off a very good save to deny Goa a beautifully crafted early lead.
The Men of Steel responded immediately through an interception in midfield that allowed Yumnam Raju to nick the ball off Pronoy Halder and release Kervens Belfort's run into the box. The former Kerala Blasters striker's shot of choice was a chip which Kattimani had no trouble saving.
A silly foul by Wellington Priori on Brandon just outside the box had Edu Bedia dreaming of a stupendous finish into the top right corner of the net but Subrata's dive to his left kept out the free-kick and kept the Gaurs waiting.
Goa put an end to the wait in the 34th minute and it was a result of a brilliant passing move that involved 19 short passes. Hugo Boumous released Brandon Fernandes into the box with an inch-perfect through-ball and the Indian forward neatly slotted home a wonderfully made goal.
As the game moved towards the half-time break, the crowd witnessed two misses of the season in the space of five minutes. Belfort missed a header from point-blank range off a corner-kick and at the other end, Corominas missed a tap-in into an open net.
Brandon's through-ball into the feet of Corominas only needed a touch into the net but the Spaniard's astonishingly weak effort was punched away by Subrata just in time. The punched clearance had crossed the line before Brandon Fernandes blasted it into the roof of the net and wheeled away in celebration.
In a bizarre turn of events, referee Venkatesh R initially awarded the goal and then overruled it after consultation with his assistant and possibly, with the use of TV replays. FC Goa were visibly furious by the referee's actions and it resulted in an altercation at half-time.
Both sides were reduced to eight men at the restart. FC Goa's Sergio Juste, Bruno Pinheiro and Brandon Fernandes were sent off and Subrata Paul, Anas Edathodika and Kervens Belfort also suffered the same fate as Jamshedpur came out for the second half hoping to turn the game around.
The eight-a-side match in the second half opened up space for FC Goa and the floodgates opened soon. Memo fouled Corominas inside the box and the Spaniard converted the spot-kick to double his team's lead.
Mandar ran into an abundance of space down the right before squaring the ball for substitute Manvir Singh who joined the rollercoaster ride to make it 3-0 in the 77th minute. An impressive Hugo Boumous mazed through the Jamshedpur backline and slotted the ball past substitute goalkeeper Rafique to add to Goa's tally a minute later.
Man-of-the-match Boumous scored again in the 89th minute after Edu Bedia dribbled forward and squared the ball across the face of goal into the path of the Moroccan playmaker.
Faruk Chowdhury released Ashim Biswas into the box in added time and the veteran striker ruined Goa's clean sheet, thereby ending a crazy quarter-final affair 5-1.
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