The result leaves the Gaurs still searching for their first win of the season after two Indian Super League matches.
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A brace from Nerijus Valskis helped Jamshedpur FC to their first win of the campaign as they overcame FC Goa 3-1 on Friday night at the SAG Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. The result leaves the Gaurs still searching for their first win of the season after two Indian Super League matches. Juan Ferrando rang in four changes with Aibanbha Dohling, Seriton Fernandes, Devendra Murgaokar and Jorge Ortiz making their first starts of the season. FC Goa started the stronger of the two sides with a proper flow to their game. However, lack of clinical touches in the final third meant that the Gaurs failed to make many inroads.
On the other hand, Jamshedpur – with the first crack at goal – saw Komal Thatal’s effort from the left from a short corner creep into the back of the net. However, that effort was waived off due to an offside. The game again came to life in the last minutes of the first half but not the way FC Goa would have liked. Dheeraj Singh came up big to deny Len Doungel and Nerijus Valskis the opener twice in the space of four minutes. Goa came out strong in the second half with Edu Bedia and Alberto Noguera forcing TP Rehenesh into two fantastic saves within the first five minutes of the restart to keep things level.
Jamshedpur eventually made Goa pay for their indecisive play in the 51st minute. Greg Stewart did well to lay it off for Valskis, who took a touch before slotting it clinically past Dheeraj with a low left-footed shot from outside the box. Ten minutes later, Valskis made it 2-0 as he ran onto another Greg Stewart ball, this time from a free kick, to head home the second.
Despite a flurry of changes from the manager to get Goa back into the game, it was Jamshedpur who struck again. An innocuous flick-on from Papuia saw substitute Jordan Murray get ahead of Dohling, before flicking it beyond Dheeraj for the third for Owen Coyle’s men.
FC Goa did make a late push as Edu Bedia struck the crossbar in the 83rd minute. A minute later Airam Cabrera struck his first in FC Goa colours with a clinical finish following some good work from Ortiz on the left flank. But it was too little, too late for them. The Gaurs will be back in action in the ISL on December 4, when they square off against NorthEast United.
Earlier, FC Goa’s ISL campaign started on a sour note as Juan Ferrando’s men went down 0-3 to Mumbai City FC. The Gaurs never really got into their stride and looked disjointed in the season opener and the Islanders made the most of the lacklustre performance from the away side.
The defeat, the biggest for FC Goa under the stewardship of Juan Ferrando, was also the first time the Gaurs lost their opening ISL game since 2016. The starting line-up saw Ferrando give debuts to Airam Cabrera and Papuia, however, neither had outings that they would like to remember.
