Photo courtesy: FC Goa

FC Goa were steamrolled to 4-0 defeat at the hands of Chennaiyin FC in Match 9 of the Indian Super League (ISL) played at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, Goa, on Sunday evening.

Elano Blumer, who scored in the 43rd minute, assisted two of Stiven Mendoza goals in the Cameroonian’s hat-trick (10’, 63’, 75’).

Zico once again started with an unchanged first XI while the away team coach Marco Materazzi made four changes to his side bringing Jayesh Rane, Raphael Augusto, Mehrajuddin Wadoo and Mailson Alves in place of Balwant Singh, Manuele Blasi, Abhishek Das and Alessandro Potenza.

Right from kick off, FC Goa survived three scares in as many minutes. Lúcio dealt well with Thoi Singh’s cross from the right intended for Mendoza in the box at first, followed by Elano finding Rane in between three blue shirts for the latter’s shot in the subsequent and then Mendoza’s snap in the third minute to be blocked by goalkeeper Elinton Andrade.

The Goan outfit was caught napping on several occasions including the goal that put them a goal down in the 10th minute as Elano dissected a through ball to Mendoza who outran Lucio to shoot between the legs of Andrade. Gregory Arnolin’s dire attempt to clear the ball was outdone as the rebound was tapped in by the Chennaiyin forward.

The home team woke up to create a fair share of chances with Léo Moura stitching together a few passes in the midfield but wasn’t able to find Reinaldo da Cruz Oliveira in the presence of Bernard Mendy in the opponent’s defense while Jofre Mateu Gonzalez spoofed another opportunity from inside the box.

By the 18th minute, Keenan Almeida could have scored his second goal in consecutive matches after being found by a diagonal pass by Moura but his shot lacked intensity.

Meanwhile, the visitors barely looked troubled as Mendoza calmly controlled the ball at the edge of the box, though his left footer drifted wide.

Lúcio was then involved in a back pass to Andrade when Elano was trying to find Mendoza in the FC Goa box. Referee B Balasubramaniam awarded a free kick inside the area that was taken by Mendy that deflected off the wall in the 29th minute.

In the 36th minute, Arnolin missed Debabrata Roy’s cross from the left while Romeo Fernandes had a go at the remains but mistimed his volley as FC Goa did manage to keep the ball in the opponent’s half for some time.

However, another defensive lapse had Thoi dispossess Debabrata on the right wing to square a pass to Mendoza who relayed the ball to Elano and the Brazilian did the honours of finding the back of the net with relative ease in the 43rd minute to give his side a 2-0 lead at half time.

Zico introduced Bikramjit Singh in place of Romeo on resumption of play.

The combination of Elano, Mendoza and Thoi were at it again with Elano’s shot being blocked by the FC Goa custodian in the 48th minute and in the next minute Reinaldo was guilty of shooting above the target from an unmarked position on the other side.

Jofre went down to a challenge by Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte inside the Chennaiyin box in the 57th minute, but the claims were put down by the match referee.

As the ball was brought back in the FC Goa box by Thoi storming through the right channel, Lúcio got in the way of the intended pass to Rane.

Darryl Duffy substituted Jofre at the hour mark and missed Bikramjit’s cross from the left along with Reinaldo and the counter attack was too much for the FC Goa to handle.

Elano cruised past a couple of defenders before releasing Mendoza to his left to complete his brace by chipping the ball above Andrade to make it 3-0 in the 62nd minute.

Contrary to the scoreline, Zico opted for three strikers as he replaced Mandar Rao Dessai with CS Sabeeth but that did not stop Materazzi’s side from going up by four goals.

Chennaiyin substitute Bruno Pelissari, who replaced Elano, floated a cross from the right for Mendoza in the FC Goa box in the 75th minute. Unmarked, the striker chested down the ball before slotting it past a helpless Andrade and completed his hat-trick in the process.

Goa had supposedly pulled back a goal in the 82nd minute when Sabeeth’s shot off a Moura setup hit the upright and appeared to have crossed the goal line but wasn’t seen in the same perspective by the men in charge.

Laid off by Duffy in the 84th minute, Reinaldo’s final try of the evening landed straight in the hands Chennaiyin goalkeeper Apoula Edel Bete who did not have much to do in the match as Zico’s next match will be against North East United FC in Guwahati on Thursday, 15 October.