new delhi,sep 24
FC Goa continued their brilliant run and played a dominant brand of football throughout the 90 minutes to defeat Delhi FC 5-1 in the 130th Durand Cup quarter finals at the Kalyani stadium on Friday. Goals from Devendra Murgaokar, Muhammed Nemil and Brandon Fernandez in the first half and Leander D’Cunha and Romario Jesuraj in the second, meant despite Delhi getting one back from Nikhil Mali, the Gaurs will take their place in the second semi-final on Wednesday at the Vivekananda Yuba BharatiKrirangan (VYBK) in Kolkata.They await the winners of the fourth and final quarter-final game between fellow ISL side Bengaluru FC and Army Green on Saturday, also scheduled at the VYBK.Delhi FC started well in the first quarter creating quite a few opportunities but Anwar Ali and Willis Deon Plaza failed to convert their chances. Brandon Fernandes then lobbed a curler from the left flank over Delhi keeper Lovepreet in added time, to give Goa a cushion of 3 goals at half time.Delhi FC looked like they came with a plan in the second half and initially showed some resilience but luck was not on their side. They did pull one back in the 82nd minute as Nikhil Mali scored a smart goal after an even smarter Willis Plaza dummy inside the Goa box, spoiling the clean-sheet of Dheeraj under the Gaur’s bar.It took Goa just a couple of minutes to regain the three goal cushion as Leander D’ Cunha scored from an overhead kick.Alexander Romario Jesuraj scored the fifth and final goal in injury time to seal the deal for FC Goa.Leander D’ Cunha was adjudged the Man of the Match for his match winning performance.
