KOCHI: FC Goa frontman Igor Angulo underlined why he is more than capable of replacing ISL all-time top scorer Ferran Corominas by scoring twice to help the Gaurs beat Jamshedpur FC 2-1 in their Indian Super League encounter at the Tilak Maidan, Vasco on Wednesday.
The victory also helped FC Goa break their two-match losing streak and get back to winning ways. As for Jamshedpur, it is their first defeat after going six games unbeaten.
In what was a game that witnessed end to end football from start to finish, FC Goa were trailing after Stephen Eze's goal in the first half but Angulo struck twice in the second half, including late in injury time, to steal three points as Juan Ferrando's men leapfrogged Jamshedpur into fifth place and go level on points with fourth placed NorthEast United.
Angulo who arrived at the start of the season as a replacement for fan favourite Coro now has eight goals from eight games in the campaign and leads the goalscoring charts. He is two ahead of Nerijus Valskis who put an impressive shift for his side on the night but could not find the net as his side slumped to a defeat that would be hard to take.
In a game of two halves, Jamshedpur dominated the first half while FC Goa came out all guns blazing in the second. After putting FC Goa under pressure and creating the better chances early on, the Red Miners took the lead in the 33rd minute when Stephen Eze got on the end of a free-kick from Aitor Monroy.
The Nigerian centre-back showed incredible athleticism as he was at full stretch when he guided the ball past a flat-footed Mohammed Nawaz in goal.
FC Goa had looked toothless going forward but all that changed in the second half as Jamdshepur were put under severe pressure. The equaliser came in the 64th minute when FC Goa defender James Donachie was brought down in the box by Alex Lima. Angulo stepped up and coolly slotted the ball past TP Rehenesh, and from there on, it looked like FC Goa were going to go on and win the game.
However, there was a controversial moment in the 87th minute when Alex's thunderous effort hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced inside the goal before falling back into play. The referee nor the linesman failed to spot it even though the television replays clearly showed that the ball had fully bounced inside.
Earlier, Valskis was also agonisingly close from a direct free-kick as the Lithuanian's piledriver hit the crossbar. That proved costly as FC Goa scored in injury time to stun Jamshedpur.
In the dying second of the game, their skipper Edu Bedia whipped in a corner which was met with a header at the near post by Angulo as they snatched victory at the very end.