AFC Champions League 2021: Persepolis FC Vs FC Goa Live Commentary

The Gaurs are at second place on the Group E table, with two points from two matches.

Persepolis FC		FC Goa
	2-1
18' Torabi24' Hosseini		13' Bedia

FC Goa suffer their first loss in the AFC Champions League but they can hold their heads high today. They took a lead nobody expected them to and started the game in blistering fashion, showing signs of the Goa that has dominated the ISL for years now. But then Persepolis just edged them because of superior quality and experience, with Iran national team regular Mahdi Torabi turning out to be a nightmare in the first half. Dheeraj was again excellent in between the posts and saved his side from conceding many more, but the Gaurs didn't have enough drive in the second half to get something out of the game. But they gave Persepolis a bigger fight than many had predicted and went down fighting in the end. The Gaurs will face the Iranian side again on Friday and know what they need to change to get a different result then. We'll be back with action for that game on Friday as well. For night, this is Uttiyo Sarkar signing off for Khel Now. Thank you and Good night, Ladies & Gentlemen!

90+5' Persepolis just manage to keep a hold onto possession and don't let Goa get anything in the end, eventually sealing a comfortable win in the end. Goa tried their hardest but just couldn't break the visitors' spirit late on.

90+2' Gonzalez seems a bit frustrated and goes straight down the sidelines after losing out on possession. He looks absolutely battered and is barely being able to stand on the pitch. Meanwhile, Dheeraj Singh is named as the Man of the Match for his impressive display!

90' Four minutes of added time is announced. Can Goa get something from this game this late?

88' The Goa players look exhausted after playing out such a difficult game. Do they have one last gasp in them to trouble the visitors here?

85' Persepolis are now looking to just use game management and grinding out a result here. Goa seem determined to carve out more chances to get a dramatic late equalizer.

83' CHANCE! Tlang finally gets a hold of the ball on the left wing and cleverly gets into a shooting position, but his shot goes straight to the goalkeeper.

81' Some decent pressing from Pandita and Devendra almost causes Persepolis to lose possession outsid their own box, but Hosseini stays strong to let the ball go out for a goal kick.

78' OH! Goa cheaply give away the ball inside their own box and Mehdi Abdi is chugged down inside the box, but the referee doesn't point to the spot - not deeming it to be a foul.

77' One more change for Persepolis with Isa Alkasir going off for Mehdi Mehdikhani.

74' Persepolis almost again break into the box but some good defending denies them a shot, with Dheeraj collecting a loose ball inside the box.

71' OOH! Siamek is given some space outside the box and takes a swipe from outside the box that goes well wide.

70' SAVE! Omid gets into the box and lashes out a left-footed shot that is saved by a diving Dheeraj.

69' Goa will hope that Bedia's knock is nothing serious and he can play the final games of the group stages after serving his suspension for the next game. Because of all the delays, the tempo of the game has also slowed down in recent minutes.

66' Real concerning moment for Goa as Bedia can't play on anymore because of his injury. He limps off and gives the captain's armband to Seriton. Redeem Tlang replaces the Spaniard.

64' Bedia is also shown a yellow card for taking too long to go outside the pitch for some treatment. This also means that he will be unavailable for the next game as he's already received 2 yellow cards in the competition.

63' Bit of a worrying scene for Goa as Bedia goes down after suffering a clash of knees. He looks in pain but Ferrando will hope his captain can fight it out.

61' Brave stuff from Ferrando here to make some attack-minded changes to get a result here. It could backfire if the visitors score again but for now the Gaurs look determined to get an equalizer.

58' The gaurs also make a double change as Brandon and Glan go off for Ishan Pandita and Princeton Rebello - who is also making his ACL debut.

56' Persepolis makes a double change here, with Shahriyar and Noorollahi going off for Omid Alishah and Milad Sirlak.

55' The visitors almost try to score another from a corner but Dheeraj holds onto a corner strongly.

52' Some heated scenes going off here. Glan Martins makes a nasty foul on Siamak and they almost go at it before the referee cools things down.

50' Persepolis are absolutely not letting up here and look desperate to get that third goal. Goa have to be defensively stronger to keep them out because right now another goal from the visitors looks very likely.

48' GOAL RULED OUT! Persepolis string through a bunch of swift passes and the ball finds its way to Pahlavan, whose tap-in from open range is ruled out by the offside flag.

47' Again! The visitors threaten with their corner as the ball finds its way to Hosseini's head, but his header is saved by Dheeraj. Meanwhile, Goa have brought on Devendra Murgaokar here, with Saviour Gama going off.

46' The second half kicks off! This time it'll be Persepolis attacking from the left to right. They almost score 20 seconds in thanks to a swift move through the left, with Shahriyar playing Torabi in but Dheeraj making a strong save to deny it.

HALF-TIME ANAYSIS: Well this game already has more goals than Goa's first two ACL games did, but unfortunately for the Gaurs, it's not in their favour. They started the game bravely and took a shocking lead against the run of play when Edu Bedia leapt the highest to score a brilliant header. But that only seem to motivate the visitors, who turned up the pressure before earning a penalty which Torabi converted. The Persepolis winger was a nightmare for the hosts all game long and then also assisted Hosseini's header. The visitors almost had the chance to put the game away with their second penalty late into the half, but Dheeraj stood strong to save that! The Gaurs still have a lot to play for here and will hope to come back in the second half a motivated unit & hurt the visitors with more promising set-pieces to get something out of this game. We'll be back with second-half action soon, stay tuned folks!

45+2' FC Goa try their best to get a goal but can't break the Persepolis backline. Half-time!

45' Two minutes of added time is added here. Goa will look to keep a hold to this scoreline before going into the break.

43' CHANCE! A long throw-in from Persepolis makes it way straight inside the box, but Noorollahi's fancy flick from close goes straight into Dheeraj's hands.

42' DHEERAJ SAVES! Ahmad Noorollahi is the one to take the second penalty and he blasts a ball straight down the middle, which Dheeraj reads properly and sends it over. GREAT SAVE!

41' PENALTY! Goa can't handle the pace of Persepolis's attack as Ivan Gonzalez chugs down Kamal Kamyabinia inside the box after failing to read his movement inside the area.

40' CLOSE! A defensive lapse at the back from Goa allows the ball to easily get to Shahriyar inside the box, but his scuffed shot goes barely wide of the target.

39' DHEERAJ SAVES! Torabi again causes the problem by playing Vahid Amiri inside the box and he gets into a promising area but his shot is denied by a strong save from the Goa custodian.

37' Fernandes' ball was flung deep into the far post but ended up evading everyone on the pitch, going out for a goal-kick for the visitors.

36' Ortiz shows great skills to nutmeg a Persepolis defender and go past another before earning another free-kick for his side. Can Brandon pull off something special again?

34' Torabi is causing an absolute nightmare for the Gaurs with his movement and distribution here. With Seriton on a yellow card, he has to be very careful not to overcommit and get sent off here.

32' ALMOST AGAIN! Goa get another free kick from afar which is swung into the box by Brandon and again Edu gets a free header inside the box, but his attempt goes wide and it judged offside.

30' Torabi again! The dangerous winger now comes into the middle and gets a hold of the ball outside the box, allowing him to take a shot on goal that blazes over.

29' Indeed, it's Adil Khan - who had a poor start to the game - who is taken off for Amarjit Singh Kiyam, making his ACL debut today.

28' FC Goa seem set to make an early change here to shake things up!

25' Goa's fantasy was very short-lived and staying true to their nature, Perspolis mount another comeback to regain the lead. The Gaurs need to do it all over again to get something out of this game and need to improve their distribution to beat this high press.

24' GOAL! Jalal Hosseini scores! Goa can't clear a corner, as Torabi gets too much space to fling in a cross to find Hosseini inside the box - with the Persepolis captain powerfully heading it into the back of the net. 2-1!

23' Goa are finding it difficult moving the ball out from their area. Dheeraj finds Brandon on the right wing but Fernandes can't play it forward, having to foul a player to give away a freekick.

21' CLOSE! Persepolis moves the ball swiftly to the left, allowing Torabi to play Siamak Nemati through on the left but the full-back's cross is held by Dheeraj before a player could pounce on it.

18' GOAL! Persepolis equalize! Mahdi Torabi is the one to take the penalty and powers the ball into the bottom left-hand corner past Dheeraj. 1-1!

17' PENALTY FOR PERSEPOLIS! A clever ball is sent into the box to Isa Alkasir, who's feet are clipped by James Donachie and the referee points to the spot.

16' Persepolis are desperate to get one back here after being shocked by the Gaurs. Ferrando's side are pulling off their counter-attacks really well and need to keep it up to get more from this - because the visitors look vulnerable.

15' WHAT A CHANCE! Goa almost scores another! It's a great counter-attack from the Gaurs as Bedia carries the ball into the final third before playing a perfect last-minute pass to Brandon, whose shot from close range produces a fantastic save from Hamed Lak.

https://twitter.com/KhelNow/status/1384557125024636930?s=20

14' Well! That was rather out of the blue, but Goa will take it. It was an expertly created free-kick with Brandon whipping in a brilliant cross and Bedia's movement before that fantastic header was admirable. Poetic that the Goa captain scores their first-ever in the ACL!

13' GOALLLLLL!! FC GOA TAKES THE LEAD!! Brandon Fernandes swings in a delightful free-kick into the box which meets captain Edu Bedia's floating header that drives into the back of the net. 1-0!

11' Ahmed Noorollahi tries to bend it past the wall with a low drive which goes straight into Dheeraj Singh's arms.

9' Seriton Fernandes is booked for cynically bringing down Shahriyar Moghanloo just outside the box after a swift fast-break from Persepolis that was started by a mistake from Adil.

7' Goa seems to be shaped in a 4-5-1 formation tonight with Brandon playing as the right-winger and Gama as a left-winger.

5' The visitors are dominating all the possession early on here and Goa are struggling to get through on counter-attacks because of the Irani side's strong shape.

3' Persepolis have started the game in blistering fashion and are pouring many bodies forward looking for an opening goal. Despite getting into the final third on multiple occasions, Goa have done well to keep them from getting a shot on goal.

1' KICKOFF! The Gaurs start the game and will be attacking from the left to right.

10:25 PM: The teams are now out on the pitch. They will now take part in the pre-match rituals, toss before we kick things out off here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Kick-off in a bit now folks, stay tuned!

10:20 PM: FC Goa are yet to score a goal in the ACL and they need a gigantic effort to change that today. Jorge Ortiz is likely to play as a no.9 tonight but needs to make good use of his pace and unpredictability to get past the experience Jalal Hosseini.

10:15 PM: The teams have now gone into the dressing rooms to change up before heading back into the field for kick-off. FC Goa, meanwhile, will be wearing their new ACL away kit for the first time today as they're technically the away side for this game.

10:10 PM: A big game here for Adil Khan, who makes his full ACL debut for Goa tonight. Having last started a competitive game in the 6-0 loss to UAE last month, he has a point to make tonight and needs to protect the backline strongly to keep Persepolis' attack quiet.

10:05 PM: Goa have made two changes from their draw against Al Wahda, with Saviour Gama and Adil Khan coming in for Alexandre Jesuraj and Ishan Pandita. Facing up against the group's most menacing attack, it isn't surprising that Juan Ferrando's gone for an added defensive option today.

https://twitter.com/KhelNow/status/1384544935844536322?s=20

10:00 PM: Team News IS IN!FC GOA XI: Dheeraj, Seriton, Donachie, Gonzalez, Sanson, Glan, Bedia, Adil, Brandon, Gama, Ortiz

Subs: Naveen, Ali, Dohling, Leander, Amarjit, Princeton, Redeem, Chothe, Pandita, Devendra

Persepolis FC XI: Hamed Lak, Hossein Kanani, Seyed Hosseini, Siamam Nemati, Ehsan Pahlavan, Ahmad Noorollahi, Kamal Kamyabinia, Mahdi Torabi, Vahid Amiri, Isla Alkasir, Shahriyar Moghanloo

Subs: Bozidar Radosevic, Amiri Yousefi, Mehdi Shiri, Milad Sarlak, Ali Shojaei, Alireza Khodaei, Omid Alishah, Mohammad Sharifi, Mehdi Abdi, Mehdi Medhikhani

9:30 PM Welcome to the live coverage of the AFC Champions League match between Persepolis FC and FC Goa. We are coming to you from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa!

Both Persepolis and FC Goa will be playing their third ACL 2021 group stage game tonight. While the Iranian club are the table-toppers in Group E, the Gaurs are at second place. Both teams are also on a two-game unbeaten run right now.

Persepolis won their group stage matches against Al Wahda FC and Al-Rayyan SC. They registered a 1-0 victory over Al Wahda in their opening clash. They than came from behind to win 3-1 against Al-Rayyan. Goa, on the other hand, managed 0-0 draws against both teams.

Persepolis are one of the strongest teams in the competition. Meanwhile, FC Goa are playing their first-ever season in Asia's premier football club competition. That said, the spirited display of the Gaurs have surely caused the Iranians to sit up and take note.

"I'm sure we can create opportunities against Goa," said Persepolis coach Yahya Golmohammadi on Monday. On that note, take a look at the key battles that could impact the match.

"Tomorrow’s is a very difficult game because Persepolis have a lot of experienced players," said Goa coach Juan Ferrando in the pre-match press conference. Read more of his quotes here.

When you take a detailed look into the Gaurs’ squad, you will also understand that the 40-year-old has acknowledged the importance of defensive stability while playing the continental competition. Read our detailed analysis of the FC Goa squad here.

For more football updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.