A second-half header by Manvir Singh (68') proved to be the difference as FC Goa clinched a narrow 1-0 win against Hyderabad FC on Sunday at the GMC Balayogi Stadium in Hyderabad.
The hosts attacked from the word go and created several chances in the opening minutes. The first serious opportunity arrived as early as the third minute when Rafa was inches away from scoring with his head from a corner. Minutes later, Hyderabad suffered a massive blow when Marko Stankovic had to be taken off due to a hamstring injury.
Unsurprisingly, Marcelinho was at the heart of every attack for the Nizams. The Brazilian came closest to scoring in the 27th minute when he latched on to a pass from Bobo and tried curving it into the far corner. FC Goa keeper Mohammad Nawaz had to be at full stretch to push it away from danger.
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Hugo Boumous and Ahmed Jahouh were among the prominent threats at the other end. The former tested Kamaljit Singh from distance in the 22nd minute and this turned out to be the biggest chance of the half for the visitors. The Gaurs pushed on but could not create quality chances in the first half.
The Gaurs were clearly the better side for the majority of the second half and Brandon Fernandez played a key role in making it happen. The India international was the source of a couple of incredible defence-splitting balls in the opening minutes of the second half. Boumous' bad decision-making prevented him from providing his side with the lead.
In the 66th minute, a penalty call fell on deaf ears as Brandon was brought down by Ashish Rai in the box. But he showed persistence and finally got his assist just two minutes later. The midfielder floated a dangerous ball in from a corner and Manvir managed to sneak past his marker Adil Khan and head it into the goal on the bounce.
The hosts were unable to churn out a response to going behind and were forced to accept a defeat at home.
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