Al Zawraa vs FC Goa: Patch defence, Hritik's heroics & other talking points from AFC Champions League Two

FC Goa remained at the bottom of their group.

FC Goa went down fighting in a 2-1 defeat to Al Zawraa in their fifth match of the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two clash on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. The Gaurs had a chaotic first half in which Ayush Chhetri was sent off, four minutes after which Kadhim Raad Hatem gave the hosts the lead.

However, the Gaurs came back through a fortunate equaliser in the 51st minute after a Dhurgham Ismail own goal. Just as it looked like a draw might be on the cards, Al-Zawraa’s star Hasan Aldulkareem scored a brilliant winner for his side in the 66th minute to help them get all three points.

Despite putting in a courageous and gritty display, the Gaurs remain without any points on the board in the AFC Champions League Two group, with just one more match remaining. Here are the talking points from the Al-Zawraa vs FC Goa clash.

4. Inconsistent full-backs’ potential is a concern for FC Goa

Al-Zawraa dominated over 70% of the ball possession in the match against FC Goa, but they actually found it hard to create chances through the central areas. Even after Chhetri’s sending off, the Gaurs maintained a reasonably strong shape to close the gaps and make it tough for the opponents to threaten them.

However, the Qatari side realised that the route to creating chances was through the wide areas, mostly because of the ability to drag Boris Singh and Aakash Sangwan out of their positions.

As a result, they almost constantly broke into open space in the wide areas to create chances, with the second goal also coming because Abdulkareem got too much space to shoot.

Sangwan and Boris weren’t the strongest defensively, and they also offered very little in the attacking sense, with neither being able to create any chances through their crossing ability. Manolo Marquez needs his full-backs to be more proactive and impactful in the key areas for his side to hold together a stronger shape.

3. Little playing time for youngsters poses questions about Manolo Marquez’s desire

Coming into the game against Al-Zawraa, Manolo Marquez knew that his side was already out of reckoning to make it past the group stages. Despite that, Manolo only chose Ayush Chhetri as the bona fide ‘young player’ or under-23 outfield player in the starting lineup.

Promising players like Muhammed Nemil and Ronney Kharbudon were ignored by the Spanish gaffer, despite the latter performing relatively well against Al-Nassr.

At a time when more emphasis should be placed on helping young players gain more competitive experience playing in these major tournaments, Marquez is prioritising ‘experienced players’ who make little impact in these matches.

The Spaniard’s desire not to give proper starting roles or minutes to younger outfield players will raise questions about Marquez and whether he truly wants to prioritise the development of promising young players in the team.

2. Hritik Tiwari shows bright potential with an eye-catching display

In a match where FC Goa were expected to face a lot of pressure from the charged-up Al-Zawraa side, Hritik Tiwari ended up being a bright performer for the Gaurs.

The 23-year-old goalkeeper realised that he was in for a tough game after seeing Ayush Chhetri get sent off, but he didn’t lose his cool or concentration levels after that. Tiwari showcased impressive reflexes in reading the Al-Zawraa shooting chances and often coming up with vital saves, with his positioning and agility helping him frustrate the opposition players.

Tiwari made five saves as well as 10 possession recoveries, being very energetic in controlling his box and not letting in any easy goals. He wasn’t at fault for either of the two goals and could hardly do much to stop either of them from going in, and the 23-year-old’s performance proves how good Tiwari can be on his day.

1. Lack of clinical strikers comes back to haunt FC Goa again

Even though FC Goa had less than 30% possession in the game against Al-Zawraa, they tried their best to execute promising attacking moves throughout the game. Indeed, even after going down to 10 men, Manolo Marquez’s side fought hard to move forward in numbers in trying to salvage something from the game.

However, not much could be done because they lacked the necessary firepower inside the box. Iker Guarrotxena played as the most advanced player for the Gaurs, and he definitely isn’t a striker.

Marquez decided to bench Javier Siverio, who couldn’t do much even after coming on as a substitute in the second half. The Gaurs created some decent attacking moves, but they didn’t have enough ruthlessness to finish off chances.

Unless Marquez can solve this issue and get a really clinical centre-forward, the Gaurs’ goal problems in such big games will continue all through the 2025-26 campaign.

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