Player Ratings: North East United FC 1-3 FC Goa

Northeast United have now lost all their opening three matches.(picture courtesy ISL)

Caeser Farias’s North East United FC were still not able to open their account in this year’s campaign after losing their first home match against FC Goa 3-1 today. They now remain at the bottom of the table with no points from 3 matches.

The home team started with a flurry of attacks in the first quarter with a brilliant goal right at the start of the match. It looked as if the North East side had finally got a grip on the match. But as the match progressed, FC Goa got themselves back into the match with Jofre controlling the midfield splendidly for the visitors. Jonatan scored a peach of a goal followed by Reinaldo’s exceptional volley in a short period of time. This was a lot to handle for the home team as they kept fading away from the match.

The second half started with Zico’s team having the greater share of the attack creating at least four one on one chances which should have been converted. Though within a few minutes, substitute Mandar Rao Desai added the third goal for the away side with a composed finish. The North East United team lacked proper finishing and this can be the biggest worry for the team’s coach.

With a host of important players ruled out of this year’s tournament for the bottom ranked side there is hardly any possible option left in the Venezuelan coach’s hand. The team management needs to find proper replacements fast or else there would be no hope left for the North East based franchise team in this year’s tournament.

Here are the player ratings for the match:

North East United FC

Gennaro Bracigliano- 6.5/10

The experienced keeper made at least four one on one saves in the game. North East United could have easily conceded more goals if the French keeper wouldn’t have been so impressive under the bar. He might be responsible for the second goal because of his poor positioning, but other than that Gennaro was superb.

Zohmingliana Ralte- 5/10

The 26-year-old had a bad outing today. He should have covered Reinaldo when he scored from a half chance. The FC Goa attackers utilized Ralte’s wing to run over him and create a number of attacking moves. In the second half, Desai kept beating him with his skills which made the young defender look very poor.

C. Hengbart- 6/10

Hengbart was inconsistent throughout the match. If he played well for a period, he followed that up with basic mistakes. His brilliant tackle on Desai during the back end of the match showed his class. But with a host of stars missing from the side, the Frenchman has to take up more responsibility in organizing his defense line.

Raju Mangang- 6/10

Raju should have done better when his deflected ball was shot on the volley by Reinaldo during the away team’s second goal. Apart from that he used his experience to the fullest by covering the gaps in the defense efficiently. His brilliant solo run beating three defenders could have brought something fruitful for the home side if he could have concentrated harder.

Regan Singh- 5.5/10

The Royal Wahingdoh full-back put in some good crosses from the right which weren't converted by his team-mates. Mandar kept beating him time and again through the right wing in the second half. Again both the full backs of the North East side were not up to the mark which made the task easier for the FC Goa attackers like Reinaldo, Jofre, Mandar and Moura to utilize the free space in the wings efficiently.

S. Hanghal- 5/10

The Bengaluru FC midfielder made a couple of poor challenges and as a defensive midfielder, he didn't do his job. Inexperience got the better of him with Moura and Jofre taking full advantage of the situation. Hangal most importantly lacks a physical presence on the field and it is one of the biggest reasons why he has not been as successful as he would like to be in the tournament.

Silas- 5.5/10

Silas started well for the home side creating a host of chances during the first quarter of the match. The hard working Portuguese midfielder kept running tirelessly but was not able to score a goal in the match. He missed one of the best opportunities of the match from a very close range in the dying moments of the game. Such kind of a miss was not expected from a player of his stature.

S. Pradhan- 6.5/10

Pradhan was the standout performer in the first half. It was his cross which was converted by Dadzie to bring the match’s first goal. In the second half as well he tried to get crosses into the box but with the team’s attackers not being able to convert a single chance in the later end of the second half, his efforts were left undone.

F. Dadzie- 6.5/10

The Ghanian striker scored a brilliant goal placing the ball past the far post with an intelligent header. After the goal, he was nowhere to be seen on the field. He lost his temper as Armolin kept instigating him. This affected his game as we did not see him initiate any more good attacking moves for his team.

N. Vélez- 6/10

Although he worked the hardest on the field today, he was not able to add the finishing touch on chances created by the midfielders. His finishing was poor as he missed even the easiest of chances in the second half. The Argentinean could have scored from close range when he got a free ball from a corner inside the box. Such a miss is not expected from him.

D. Kamara- 6/10

The experienced midfielder neither made a lot of mistakes nor did he do anything worthwhile for his side. He might have initiated a few moves for the side, but at the end of the day the woeful finishing from the players would surely make Caeser Farias more concerned. Kamara also missed an easy opportunity from right outside the box in the last ten minutes of the game.

Substitutes

Robin Gurung- 5.5/10

Gurung hardly had time to make any impact. Although he could have added his name to the score sheet with a little more concentration. He missed an easy opportunity right at the end shooting wide from close range. The young defender received a needless yellow card for fouling Bikramjit Singh in the second half.

Bruno Herrero- 5/10

Other than an attempt on goal which went above the bar, he hardly made any useful contribution. With more than 20 minutes on the pitch, the Spanish midfielder should have created at least some attacking opportunities for his team.

H. Narzary

The young striker hardly had any time to create any kind of impact on the game.

FC Goa

Kattimani- 6/10

The young keeper played with a lot of confidence today although he did not have to face a lot of uneasy situations today. He could have organized his defense better when the North East attackers kept creating space for themselves in the last quarter of the game. Kattimani made a brilliant save from Valez diving low to his left.

Debabrata- 5.5/10

Debabrata was not up to the mark today. The experienced left back was beaten quite easily by Sanju Pradhan in the first half which eventually led to a cross that was converted by Dadzie. He struggled to keep the North East strikers at bay especially in the first half, with hardly any resistance to their attacks. The experienced defender improved his performance as the game progressed.

Arnolin- 6/10

Armolin did what he does best. He kept instigating Dadzie throughout the first half which frustrated the Ghanaian striker. Other than that, he was average defensively. The Frenchman was very poor at the end leaving out empty spaces for the North East United strikers to exploit.

Luciano Sabrosa- 6.5/10

The experienced Brazilian had to fill up a big gap in the squad replacing captain Lucio. The former Salgaocar centre-back did well in the heart of the defense. He was influential at the back for the Goa side. Luciano won a lot of aerial duels and never allowed the North East strikers to get space inside the box.

Kenan Almeida- 5.5/10

The full back remained anonymous throughout the match. Luckily the home team did not utilize the flank covered by him much or else it would have posed serious problems for Zico’s side.

Leo Moura- 7/10

One of the best performers in today’s game, he provided a brilliant through ball dissecting the North East defense for Mandar Rao Desai who slotted home the third goal for the away side. His sense of creating space was very attractive and Goa could have easily scored at least two more goals through his precision passes in the second half.

Jonatan- 6.5/10

Jonatan used his physical strength to his advantage winning a number of challenges near the Northeast United penalty area. He was solely responsible for the first goal of his team since he initiated and finished the whole move himself. Other than this, the 21-year-old midfielder took a couple of shots from long range which were handled comfortably by the keeper.

Bikramjit Singh- 5/10

Somehow he never really fit into the Goa side today. Starting the match as Denson’s replacement he was surely much fitter and worked hard defensively. But he kept losing possession whenever he moved up the field. He ideally requires a lot of confidence to improve in the coming matches.

Jofre- 8/10

Another stellar performance from the Spanish midfielder. It can be said now that it is because of Jofre that the Goa team has become more dangerous. Not only did he create the first two goals but he kept on providing attacking passes for the other players. Both defensively and on the offense he was brilliant. A deserving Man of the Match of today’s game.

C. Sabeeth- 6/10

The Indian striker started today with Desai left on the bench for the away side. Sabeeth kept the ball well while running at the defenders from the middle of the field. He made dangerous runs in the first half and was kept in check by the North East defense by using the offside trap.

Reinaldo- 6.5/10

Reinaldo scored the second goal for his team from absolutely nothing. He created his own opportunity through a weakly deflected ball and turned it into a peach of a finish. Other than the goal, he missed a number of sitters which frustrated Zico. The Brazilian could have easily scored at least two more goals today.

Substitutes

Mandar Rao Desai- 7/10

The winger came on as a substitute and his pace was too much for the tiring Northeast defense. Desai scored with a calm and composed finish from a defense splitting through ball from Moura within minutes of coming on as a substitute. He kept beating the full backs and created goal scoring opportunities for Reinaldo.

Duffy- 5.5/10

The Salgaocar striker finally got his chance to appear in the ISL as he was brought in right before the end of the match. Duffy kept the possession well with an intention to waste as much time as possible waiting for the final whistle. He could have scored a goal from Moura’s cross which was cleared by a last ditch header from Hengbart.

Edited by Staff Editor