New Delhi:
FC Goa advanced to the quarter-finals of the Super Cup football tournament after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Indian Arrows here on Saturday. Delhi Dynamos also made it to the quarterfinals after they were handed walkover against East Bengal. The Kolkata giants have already taken the decision not to field their team, expressing solidarity with the revolting I-League sides. Ferran Corominas (18th minute) and Hugo Boumous (60th) struck for FC Goa while Indian Arrows' Deepak Tangri scored an own-goal in the 80th minute.
FC Goa was on the front foot from the start, dominating possession in the middle of the park and pulling the strings. The likes of Zaid Krouch, Hugo Boumous, and Jackichand Singh were causing problems for the Arrows defense with their pace and trickery. Soon enough, Krouch won a penalty for FC Goa inside the opening 20 minutes when his attempted volley was handled inside the box. Corominas stepped up to calmly slot the ball into the net, past Prabhusukhan Gill.
Despite conceding early on, Floyd Pinto's side seemed unfazed and they nearly got the equalizer towards the end of the first period when Narender got on the end of a free-kick from Anwar Ali. However, the defender's close-range header was directed straight at the FC Goa goalkeeper. With half-time looming, Goa should have doubled their lead when they created two goal-worthy chances. First up, Jackichand got on the end of a pin-point cross from Krouch, but his header was off the mark. Only a minute later, Lenny Rodrigues got on the end of a clever cut-back from Krouch again. This time, the Indian midfielder took a first-time shot which narrowly went over the top corner.
However, it was not long before FC Goa would finally get their second of the night. Towards the hour mark, Bedia picked up the ball near the halfway line. The Spaniard found Corominas in space, who took one touch before releasing a through ball for Boumous.
The Moroccan got the better of the Arrows goalkeeper to comfortably slot the ball into the empty net. A two-goal deficit was always going to be hard for the Arrows to overcome, despite the best efforts of Boris Singh and Amarjit Singh. With 10 minutes to go, FC Goa scored their third goal. A dangerous cross from substitute Brandon Fernandes was misread by Tangri as the ball struck his shin before creeping into the net
