Goa edge Chennaiyin in 7-goal thriller

CHENNAI: FC Goa came out on top in a Boxing Day goalfest as they defeated Chennaiyin FC 4-3 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday in a high-intensity, ill-tempered Indian Super League (ISL) encounter.
Chennaiyin FC missed the services of their defender Eli Sabia due to suspension and it cost the side dear. Defenders Lucian Goian and Masih Saighani failed to do the job and it could be said that the hosts were the architects of their own downfall.
Goa took the lead when Ahmed Jahouh side-footed the ball into the back of the net. Brandon Fernandes made it 2-0 for the visitors while at the stroke of half-time Hugo Boumous struck the third and it seemed the match was over.
But it wasn't so as Chennai came out all guns blazing in the second half. The Owen Coyle-coached side forced their way back with two goals in three minutes before Ferran Corominas put in the fourth goal for Goa. Rafael Crivellaro scored his second goal of the night for Chennaiyin in the 91st minute but that wasn't enough as Goa still ran away with three points to go back to the top of the league table.
If the first goal made Chennaiyin's Scottish coach Coyle unhappy, the second is bound to leave him livid after the team paid for a disastrous play at the back. Three minutes before the half-time whistle, Goian failed to trap Germanpreet Singh's back pass and gifted Goa a goal with Brandon doing the needful.
Goa made it 3-0 after Jackichand Singh sent a curling cross which both Goian and Saighani failed to read and Boumous tapped the ball in.
Chennaiyin looked a different side in the second half. They began pressing more and were rewarded in the 57th minute when they scored from a set-piece with Andre Schembri heading in an Anirudh Thapa corner. Chennaiyin made it 3-2 three minutes later when Lallianzuala Chhangte set it up for Crivellaro who found the back of the net with a brilliant shot.
Just when it seemed Chennaiyin were back in the game, Boumous fed a beautiful through ball to Coro who beat the offside trap to score his sixth goal of the season. But the drama was far from over with Crivellaro striking with a beautiful lob beating the goalie on the far post. But it proved too little too late for Chennaiyin and things got worse when Edwin Sydney Vanspaul picked up his second booking and got the marching order.