NorthEast United 1-3 FC Goa: 5 Talking Points

FC Goa overcame the horrors of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Chennaiyin FC, with a rather comfortable 3-1 win away to NorthEast United in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). The Gaurs though had to come from behind to pick up all three points in their first away trip of the season and top performances from Joffre and Leo Moura in midfield set up the win which once again left a sour taste in the mouth of passionate fans in the NorthEast as their side once again failed to deliver the goods on their home pitch.But the game wasn’t short of chances and some serious entertainment as attackers from both sides had their share of sizzling action. The result saw FC Goa get their campaign back on track, but piled more misery on Cesar Farias and NorthEast United who slipped to their third consecutive defeat.Here are five talking points from the game between FC Goa and NorthEast United.All images in this slideshow are sourced form the ISL.

#1 FC Goa display their character

After being taken to the cleaners by a clinical Chennaiyin FC in their last game, FC Goa got off to the worst possible start against NorthEast United as they fell behind to Dadzie header in the 12th minute. But the Gaurs showed great character as they made a quick-fire come back and turned the game on its head with goals from Jonatan and Reinaldo in the 28th and 30th minute respectively.

Zico’s men never really looked back from there and posed a constant threat to the NorthEast United goal and eventually sealed the win when Mandar Rao Desai scored minutes after coming off the bench.

The Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati was buzzing when the home side took the lead and it took a performance of great strength and character for FC Goa to silence the passionate NorthEast crowd. The comeback must have pleased Zico after what his team went through against Chennaiyin and FC Goa will hope to build on this success.

#2 NorthEast United\'s high defensive line failed

The Highlanders seemed to on course to recording the first win of their campaign when Dadzie fired them into a 12th minute lead, but NorthEast United’s eagerness to commit men forward and play with a high back line led to their downfall as FC Goa’s midfield maestros had it too easy to weave their magic and get FC Goa back into the game.

Joffre and Leo Moura were given all the time in the world to pick out runners who succeeded in beating the offside trap set by the high line of NorthEast United’s defense with relative ease as the home side’s rearguard got horribly exposed.

Coach Cesar Farias failed to arrest the problem as FC Goa’s craftsmen had a field day at the office. There was a lack of discipline in the NorthEast United team while defending and that cost the team dearly despite a strong start. John Abraham’s men missed the experience of Simao Sabrosa in the team and his leadership qualities would probably have not allowed the kind of loose play in midfield which the NorthEast United side displayed.

#3 Zico\'s changes to the line-up serve FC Goa well

With the games coming thick and fast FC Goa’s decision to stick with the same starting XI for their game against Chennaiyin backfired as the Goans were trounced in their own backyard. Learning a lesson from that defeat, Zico made five changes to the team that was condemned to the biggest home loss in the history of the ISL. Laxmikant Kattimani started in goal for The Gaurs as CS Sabeeth started upfront, Jonatan Lucca, Bikramjit Singh and Luciano Sabrosa also made their way into the first team.

The addition of these players freshened up the jaded looking FC Goa outfit and that worked wonders for FC Goa as they showed great powers of recovery to down the Highlanders 3-1 in their highly hostile backyard. Bikramjeet Singh was especially impressive as he did well to guard a fragile FC Goa backline.

This once again highlighted the importance of rotating the squad in the ISL and gave a testimony to the strength of the FC Goa squad accumulated by their coach Zico.

#4 Misfiring strikers prevent a tennis score

The game did end 3-1 in favour of FC Goa but many wondered how the scoreline didn’t reflect a tennis score. Everything seemed lost when Mandar Desai fired in FC Goa’s third goal, but as it panned out, there were enough chances for NorthEast United to win the game even late on with the pick of the chances falling to NorthEast United’s Argentine striker Velez, who fired over the crossbar from six yards out.

FC Goa too had several chances on the break in the dying minutes of the game, the best of which fell to their striker Reinaldo who fired his shot wide of the gaping goal. Both managers will take a look at their respective sides’ inefficiency in front of goal and try to work out a possible solution to this problem before the next games show up for both sides.

But the strikers’ fallings in front of goal, definitely denied the onlooking crowd a truly thrilling finish to the game.

#5 Does the win overshadow FC Goa\'s defensive problems?

FC Goa certainly did well to get back to winning ways against NorthEast United, but there are several question marks which remain over Zico’s men. FC Goa had their hands full with the energetic NorthEast United attackers all game and Cesar Farias’ men almost made them pay but for some poor finishing.

FC Goa’s left back Debabrata didn’t cover himself in glory by any means as he was beaten too easily by electric NorthEast United winger Sanju Pradhan who had a good game for the John Abraham owned outfit, even contributing to their goal.

Gregory Arnolin looked far from convincing at the heart of the FC Goa defense as the Frenchman failed to organize the FC Goa defence in the absence of skipper Lucio. Zico will now need to get back to the training ground and seriously address this issue as a slightly better team than NorthEast United could make them pay for the fragile defending.