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ATK Mohun Bagan began their Super Cup campaign with an emphatic 5-1 drubbing of Gokulam Kerala FC at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Monday.
The home team fans watched in stunned disbelief as the ISL champions toyed with their defence with winger Liston Colaco being the star of the show, scoring two early goals that put the Green and Maroon in a comfortable position within the first 30 minutes.
In the day’s second match, FC Goa stumbled to a 3-5 loss to Jamshedpur FC.
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Gokulam Kerala’s defensive line was found wanting on multiple occasions, something that Hugo Boumous took advantage of to lodge a goal and an assist to his name.
While Manvir Singh and Kiyan Nassiri scored the other goals for Mohun Bagan, Sergio Mendigutxia pulled one back for the Malabarians later in in the second half. But by then, the visitors were already in cruise control.
Mohun Bagan FC coach Juan Ferrando fielded a strong side — while he rested Australian Dimitrios Petratos, young Nassiri received a start up front.
The Green and Maroon brigade didn’t have to wait for long to break Gokulam’s defence as they opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
Boumous forced the Gokulam defender Abdul Hakku to commit a mistake, winning the loose ball and passing it on to Liston Colaco. Liston received the ball at the edge of the penalty box and curled it into the far corner to make it 1-0 to the Mariners.
Liston then added one more goal to his tally to make it 2-0 in the 27th minute. A brilliant move started from the right as Asish Rai switched the ball with a perfectly weighted long ball to Liston.
Liston fooled Gokulam’s defender Subhankar with his immaculate first touch and then unleashed a shot towards the far post, leaving Shibinraj with no chance.
Boumous then got in on the act as he received the ball from Kiyan Nassiri in the middle of the pitch, decided to run inside Gokulam’s penalty box and beat Shibinraj to make it 3-0 just before the half time.
Manvir made it 4-0 for the Kolkata giants in the 63rd minute when a pass from Liston on the left was collected by Boumous. He then passed the ball to Manvir, who was waiting in the box. The India international took a touch away from his marker and smashed the ball into the bottom corner to take the game out of Gokulam’s hands.
The Malabarians pulled one back in the second half. Off a free kick, Bouba Aminou provided the ball for Sergio Mendigutxia to head in.
Bagan’s Kiyan Nassiri added to Gokulam’s miseries by scoring his team’s fifth goal of the match moments before the final whistle as he pounced on a failed clearance to make the most of it.
Jamshedpur FC Down FC Goa 5-3
FC Goa took the lead when goalkeeper TP Rehenesh lost the ball just outside the box in the sixth minute. Having received the opportunity, Iker Guarrotxena didn’t waste time to pass the ball to Noah Sadaoui, who was in an advantageous position and the winger skillfully hammered the ball in.
However, FC Goa’s celebrations didn’t last long. In the 11th minute, Rafael Crivellaro delivered an inch-perfect cross from the corner and Jamshedpur centre-back Pratik Chaudhari headed it in to level the scores at 1-1.
In the 27th minute, Ricky Lallawmawma was fouled right outside the rival box. Set-piece expert Crivellaro once again showed his class as he struck well into the top right corner to put his side ahead.
In the 39th minute, Devendra Murgaokar missed a golden opportunity to equalise for Carlos Pena’s men. The striker failed to score from close range following a delightful cross from Sadaoui.
Pronay Halder dealt them another blow to take the game further from FC Goa’s reach. The Indian midfielder got himself into a shooting position in the additional time of the first half and pulled the trigger. To his delight, his ill-directed shot went in after getting deflected by Syrian defender Mohamed Fares Arnaout.
After half-time, Jamshedpur continued to put pressure on the rivals. Brazilian sensation Crivellaro continued to be a source of constant trouble for FC Goa defence. Just before the hour mark, the 34-year-old made it 4-1 with a simple tap-in. The credit, however, goes to substitute Ritwik Das, who carried the ball from the left flank, dribbled past an opponent and found Crivellaro with a perfect pass.
The game saw another twist as FC Goa went on to score two back-to-back goals. In the 61st minute, Iker Guarrotxena headed the ball in following a lob by Brandon Fernandes. That also marked the Spaniard’s 12th goal of the season for FC Goa.
In the 70th minute, Goa’s Sadaoui found the back of the net with a comfortable header to make it 4-3. Skipper Brandon was once again the brain behind the goal as his cross from the right turned out to be a perfect one.
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Finally, Jamshedpur’s substitute Harrison Sawyer capitalised on an error by Arshdeep Singh and dealt a blow to FC Goa’s hopes of getting an equaliser. The Australian forward pounced on an opportunity in the 81st minute and took advantage of an awkward bounce of the ball to beat the goalkeeper and make it 5-3 for Aidy Boothroyd’s men.
In the next round of fixtures, Jamshedpur FC will come up against Hero Indian Super League 2022-23 champions ATK Mohun Bagan, while FC Goa will clash with Gokulam Kerala on Friday, April 14.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
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