Md Sporting Rally To Tame Fc Goa | Kolkata News

Kolkata: The Durand Cup opener was hailed as a repeat of last year’s final, but Mohammedan sport were in no mood this time to pass up the opportunity by beating the defending champions by just one goal FC Goa 3-1 at Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.
The defending champions, who are contesting the tournament with their development team coached by Deggie Cardozo, took the lead in the 34th minute thanks to a beautiful shot from Muhammad Nemil from the edge of the box.
But Mohammedan Sporting, who lost the final 1-0 on October 3 last year, seized the momentum before scoring convincing winners thanks to goals from Pritam Singh (49), Faslu Methukayil (84) and Marcus Joseph (90+3). pulled away.
As Mohammedan Sporting began to assert themselves early on in the game, young Goa FC rose to the challenge, defending resolutely but always on guard to test the opposing back-line with a quick counterattack.
Predictably, Marcus posed the greatest threat to the defending champions, missing by a hair’s breadth after half an hour. Just as Mohammedan Sporting seemed to have gained the confidence to break the deadlock, 20-year-old Nemil, who once played for Barcelona’s third-tier side FE Grama’s under-19s, came forward with a jewel, threatening to queer the pitch for the home side. After taking full advantage of the open space in front of him, Nemil unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box and gave to the goalkeeper Sankar Roy no chance to react.
Shaken by the turnaround, Andrey Chernyshov’s team had to react and did so shortly after the break. Sheikh Faiaz played a cross from the left and after Goa goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari initially saved this, Pritam was there to head the lead in the 49th minute to make it 1-1.
It was almost a one-way street for the home side after that, but Mohammedan Sporting’s quest for another goal was delayed, partly because of their own waste and partly because of Tiwari’s bravura performance under the Goa FC bar.
But the relentless pressure from Mohammedan Sporting was too much for Cardozo’s young contenders and Faslu, a second-half substitute, gave the home side the lead by heading in an 84th-minute Abhash Thapa cross. Marcus then started and finished a move, tapping in Faslu’s square pass to seal the deal in stoppage time.
SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY:
Jamshedpur FC vs. Bengaluru FC (Kishore Bharati Stadium, Kolkata, from 2.30pm); NEUFC-Odisha FC (Guwahati, 17:30).