Bengal will take on Goa in Indian Football League 2020-21 on Friday night to get back to an unbeaten streak. Meanwhile, Goa would look to strengthen its position on the third spot.
Match Timings: Dec 29, 7:30 PM IST
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Bengal’s long unbeaten streak ended last week when they lost to the season’s best team, Mumbai. The improvement in Gold and Reds has been excellent. The Kolkata giants are still in the bottom two with two wins and six draws. The first half was highly dominated by Mumbai, and this one half assured three points for the Islanders. Mumbai took the lead in the 27th minute as Mourtada struck his second goal of the season. After the cooling break, Fowler’s men got some chances, but they couldn’t grab these.
The impressive final third helped them to dominate the second half. Anthony Pilkington’s one shot missed out the target. In the 57th minute, Hugo Boumous’ corner-kick haunted Bengal for a while, but Bengal survived. Gold and Reds got a decent free-kick chance, but Pilkington struck his shot over the crossbar, which came through Bright Enobakhare’s pass. The duo set up one more chance, but the shot was deflected out for the corner. Harmanpreet Singh also failed to head the ball on target. Bengal can admire their efforts, and they almost pulled off a draw against Lobero’s side. The second half brilliance couldn’t deliver them an equaliser, but Bengal would now look for a comeback on Friday. Fowler’s men are six points adrift of the last playoffs spot, and they need the consistency to better its position in the table.
Meanwhile, Goa are entering into this fixture with a 1-1 draw against Kerala. Despite losing two points, Gaurs continued its position on the third spot. Gaurs have to think about its current form as they have dropped points thrice in the last four games. Northeast and Hyderabad are going strong with each game, and if Gaurs drop points here, they may slip to fifth in the table. The victory can also help them out to reduce its margin from the 2nd placed Mariners. Northeast’s victory against Habas’ men has reduced this margin to 4 points. Both teams had a good start in the opening ten minutes, but Goa drew the first blood with the 25th minute through Jorge Ortiz Mendoza's free-kick.
The first half ended in favour of the Gaurs. Kerala started high in the second half, and they got the equaliser in the 57th minute through another Rahul KP goal. Goa also went 10-men down when Ivan Gonzalez got the red-card. Brandon Fernandes is recovering from the injury, and he will miss yet another game. In his absence, the FC Goa midfield hasn't looked the same, and they seem to lack that cutting edge in midfield. Goa missed its top strikers, Brandon Fernandes and Igor Angulo, in the last couple of games. Angulo came as the substitute in the second half, but he didn’t deliver much.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Goa
Naveen Kumar (GK), Seriton Fernandes, Ivan Gonzalez, Saviour Gama, James Donachie, Alberto Noguera, Alexander Romario Jesuraj, Edu Bedia, Princeton Rebello, Jorge Ortiz Mendoza, Devendra Murgaokar
Current form: D D W D W
Previous match: 1-1 draw with Kerala
Bengal
Debjit Majumder (GK), Narayan Das, Daniel Fox, Scott Neville, Ankit Mukherjee, Milan Singh, Surchandra Singh, Jacques Maghoma, Matti Steinmann, Anthony Pilkington, Harmanpreet Singh
Current form: L D D W D
Previous match: 1-0 defeat to Mumbai
Key Players
Goa
Jorge Ortiz Mendoza
5 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Igor Angulo
9 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Bengal
Jacques Maghoma
5 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Matti Steinmann
3 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
