Goa: ATK Mohun Bagan were left frustrated as they were unable to break their recent poor form after a 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League(ISL) at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa on Saturday. Liston Colaco registered himself on the score sheet for the Mariners while Vladimir Koman struck right before halftime for Chennai to share spoils with their opponents.
Antonio Habas’ side looked good from the outset before getting the breakthrough early in the first half as Liston Colaco slotted home from the left side of the box to find the right top corner of the net after Roy Krishna found him with a needle-like through ball that curressed the Chennai defensive line.
The Marina Machans started to find their feet after that through captain Anirudh Thapa and Lallianzuala Chhangte who were at the center of the attacks before getting the reward in the 45th minute when Vladimir Koman gave Bagan goalkeeper Amrinder no chance and equalised after catching the Bagan defence off-guard being set up by Polish striker Lukasz.Chennai, since their equaliser kept tight at the back after the break with Hugo Boumous and Roy showed glimpses of their link-up play from the opposing side.
The Mariners somehow lost their groove in later phase of the game despite bringing David Williams from the bench. however nothing worked in the favour of coach Habas who would have expected his side to better but now have to satisfied with just a single point from the game.
Elsewhere, FC Goa edged out Bengaluru FC 2-1in a game at the GMC Athletic Stadium where both the sides were reduced to 10 men. The Gaurs got the help of own goal by Aashique Kuruniyan for their opening with another one coming from Devendra Murgaonkar while the Blues who got their equaliser through Cleiton Silva earlier in the first half of the game would return to the dressing room empty placing themselves at 10th at the table.
Goa started the game well having got their early chances through Edu Bedia who first attempted from a difficult angled free-kick then coming back again a couple of minutes later to find a header which which missed the right corner.The Spaniard then set up his compatriot Jorge Ortíz who right footed shot from outside the box but was unable to finish off. They got their opener in rather drastic fashion through a own goal by BFC’s Ashique Kuruniyan.
The Blues though saw their openings as Suresh Wangjam who saw shot blocked off before setting one up for Sunil Chhetri shortly after that. However they had to wait until just before the half-time whistle when Cleiton Silva from a free kick found the top right corner of the net to bring his side back to the game.The game saw a few players clashing while challenging for tackles after the break as both the side played out a rather scratchy second half with losing a man on the field on the either end of the pitch.
Goa saw their man Ortiz getting a direct marching orders after his violent challenge on Suresh Singh Wangjam who would actually see a red card as well later in the final sector of the match after his challenge on Bedia was meant for a yellow, the second one of the evening for the Manipur man which left BFC down to 10 as well but the Blues had the bitter one than its opponents as just a few minutes before Goa had already taken their 2-1 lead after Devendra Murgaonkar calmly slotted the ball past the on-rushing Gurpreet which proved the crucial as Goa claimed full-points to find themselves at seventh.
