Goa outclass Lakshadweep, keep qualification hopes alive

Goa need a win in their next match against Madhya Pradesh to qualify for the finals.

Goa registered a commanding 4-0 win over Lakshadweep in the must-win match of the Santosh Trophy West Zone Qualifiers 2019 played at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Solapur on Saturday. Joaquim Abranches and Lalawmpuia scored the braces for Goa.

Goa who surprisingly drew with Daman & Diu in the opening match had four changes to their side as their coach Samir Naik gave the start to veteran Peter Carvalho, Joaquim Abranches, Chaitan Komarpant and Kirtikesh Gadekar. On the other hand, Lakshadeep gaffer Deepak Mattuvayil made only one change to his side which lost to Madhya Pradesh in the previous match as midfielder Abdul Ameen found his name in the starting XI for the Island side.

Goa had the best chance to open the scoring in the very 2nd minute when Carneiro found Brian Faria with a pin-point corner but the defender saw his goalbound header from close divingly saved by the rival keeper Sayed Safal.

However, they took just six more minutes to surge ahead as skipper Jessel Carneiro snatched the ball from the rival midfielder and made a superb through pass to Abranches in the box who brilliantly finished the ball at the far post to put his side ahead.

A few minutes before this, Lakshadeep came close to scoring as Anwar NP went for the glory from the long distance freekick but his goalbound attempt was nicely fisted over the crossbar by Goan custodian Tyson Caiado.

With just two minutes from the goal, Lalawmpuia was in the commanding position in the box to double the tally for the Goan side as he was brilliantly set up by skipper Carneiro with a square pass but the forward’s shot missed the target narrowly.

However, in the very next minute, he made up for the missed chance as the striker made clinical finish from inside the box after getting a pass from Brian. Jessel was once again the architect of the goal with a perfect corner.

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At the other end, Goan keeper Tyson came with another breath-taking save as he repeated the action from the last move to again deny Anwar from the long distance free-kick. The Island side had an easy chance to reduce the margin at the half-hour mark when Ameen made a defence-splitting through pass to Abdul Kunnumpura in the box but the striker failed to keep his shot on target with just Goan keeper Tyson to beat.

This was the last attack from the Lakshadweep in the match as the Goan side completely dominated the proceedings with continues attacks but Lalawmpuia wasted to easy chances to inflate their lead before the halftime.

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Though, Goa were the dominant side, it took them almost hour to score the third goal as their striker Lalawmpuia was brought down in the box by Lakshadeep defender Ubaiddulla KN in the box to give away the penalty where Lalawmpuia himself stepped ahead and made no mistake from the spot to put his side on the driver seat.

Abranches also completed his brace in the 73rd minute when U-20 defender Serineo Fernandes curled the ball to him in the box where the lad smartly tapped the ball in the back of the net to confirm the first victory in the qualifiers.