KOCHI: FC Goa continued their ascendancy in the Indian Super League after a slow start to the season with a hard fought 1-1 draw against the mighty ATK Mohun Bagan at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda on Sunday.
A stunning free-kick from Edu Garcia in the 75th minute had given Bagan the lead but substitute Ishan Pandita struck in the 85th minute to steal a point and stretch their unbeaten run to five matches. The Gaurs have now earned ten points from losing positions. For Bagan, it was an opportunity missed to trim the gap to Mumbai City and they are now five points behind the Islanders.
Goa head coach Juan Ferrando made the big call of leaving the league top-scorer Igor Angulo on the bench as he fielded the same eleven which beat Jamshedpur FC. This saw Jorge Mendoza who scored twice against the Red Miners take up a similar false number nine position up front yet again. As for Bagan, it was all about how they approached this game after the painful defeat against Mumbai.
The Kolkata outfit who took a very defensive approach against the Islanders in the last game decided to press the Goan side who play similar type of possession based play. They tested the Goan defence twice in the first minute itself as Edu had a go at Naveen Kumar's goal in quick succession. Led by Roy Krishna and David Williams up front, Bagan tried to press high up the pitch.
The first real chance of the game fell to Bagan full-back Prabir Das in the 18th minute when he drilled a shot at Naveen who dived low to save it. Bagan came agonisingly close when their left-back Subhasish Bose's header from a corner hit the woodwork and was inches away from going in.
FC Goa enjoyed the majority of possession but they failed to create clear-cut chances as both teams cancelled each other out.
In the second half, Bagan kept pressing Goa but everytime the Gaurs broke out from the pressure, they looked dangerous going forward. Their right-back Seriton Fernandes went on a rampaging run down the right flank and after seeing Arindam off his line, the fullback swept a ball over him. The looping ball sailed over the keeper but stayed out after hitting the post much to the dismay of Seriton and the relief of the Bagan defence.
Bagan managed to break the deadlock in the 75th minute when they won a free-kick. Krishna was fouled just outside the box by Goa defender James Donachie. Edu stepped up and curled it into the top corner with surgical precision as they continued their trend of scoring decisive goals in the second half after going goalless in first.
Trailing 1-0, Ferrando made a double substitution and one of his substitutes Ishan Panditha dragged them back into the game. FC Goa won a corner and while Donachie's first attempt was kept out, Ishan slammed in the rebound to make it 1-1 in the 85th minute. Bagan nearly took the lead again when substitute Manvir Singh rattled the crossbar with a header from a free-kick. In the end, a draw felt like a fair result based on the balance of play.