The FC Goa juggernaut rolled on as it crushed Chennaiyin FC 3-1 to clinch a last-four berth in the Indian Super League here on Friday. Goals from the irrepressible trio of Romeo Fernandes, Andre Santos and Miroslav Slepicka condemned Chennai to its first home defeat.
The result makes Goa (21 points) the second side to qualify for the semifinals after Chennai (22 points). Both have a game left.
Through the match, the home side enjoyed much possession. But the goals just weren’t there. The start from Chennai was, in particular, bright. Bruno Pelissari and Cristian Hidalgo Gonzalez were involved in some smart exchanges on the right channel, but failed to give the finishing touches.
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Unfortunately for Chennai, Goa’s first goal arrived in the 23rd minute.
Defensive midfielder Haroon Amiri was allowed to drive forward and take a powerful shot with his left foot from outside the box. Goalkeeper Shilton Paul, who played instead of Gennaro Bracigliano, pushed the ball up only for it to ricochet off the crossbar and fall to Romeo for the finish.
For Goa, Santos was again the engine. Apart from his offensive play, he even dropped back when required and collected the ball from deep inside the midfield.
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He made his intent all the more clear when, in the 40th minute he curled a free-kick from the right wing beyond Shilton’s reaches, only to be denied by the post.
But he was rewarded immediately, on 41 minutes, with Amiri and Slepicka combining to set the Brazilian up for a first-time left-footed finish, which doubled the lead.
Weak linkThe midfield area for Chennai proved to be the weak link. Eric Djemba-Djemba, who sat in front of the four defenders, was largely ineffective in breaking up play.
His replacement in the second half, captain Bojan Djordjic, did manage to shore up the attack a bit by spraying passes out wide, but defensively the side was still fragile.
Another instance of this showed up in the 62nd minute when defender Narayan Das was allowed to get forward and shoot at goal.
Though Shilton made a diving save, the ball went straight to Slepicka for a tap-in.
This effectively killed the game. Chennai did drive forward and keep the ball for much of the last quarter, also getting a consolation goal from Jean Maurice in stoppage time, but it seemed more academic.
It wasn’t a disappointing day just for the home fans, but also for a sizeable bunch of Arsenal fans who relentlessly chanted Goa’s marquee signing Robert Pires’ name.
The Frenchman didn’t feature for the fourth straight match.
The result:
FC Goa 3 (Romeo 23, Santos 41, Slepicka 62) bt Chennaiyin FC 1 (Maurice 90+2).