Super Cup: FC Goa strike late to floor Punjab

FC Goa seemed down, almost out, but two late goals within four minutes, including one in stoppage time, helped them keep their hopes alive in the Super Cup with a 2-1 win against Punjab FC at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, on Saturday.
Punjab broke the deadlock through Pulga Vidal (57’) and were heading to upset Goa. But Manolo Marquez’s side turned the tide with a 88th minute equaliser from Borja Herrera and the winner from substitute Mohammed Yasir (92+2) to enter the semifinals where they will take on Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Wednesday.
Manolo named an unchanged starting 11 that came into the quarterfinal fixture after a convincing 3-0 win against I-League outfit Gokulam Kerala FC.
Last match hat-trick hero Iker Guarrotxena led the charge for Goa with support from Borja and Dejan Drazic.
While Goa got off to a flying start, they could have almost been stunned after a well-worked Punjab set piece. A dangerous corner allowed Punjab captain Nikhil Prabhu room for a clever header, but goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari came up with a crucial block.
Although Goa defeated Punjab in both legs of the Indian Super League, Panagiotis Dilmperis’ side showed promise to make amends. Muhammad Suhail burst into the right flank and skilfully took on centre-back Sandesh Jhingan. Suhail then whipped in a dangerous cross across goal but didn’t find any teammates to guide it home.
At the other end, Iker won a freekick on the edge of the box, but Borja aimed his effort straight into the wall. Soon, Dejan found Borja with a delightful through ball, but Punjab goalkeeper Muheet Shabir came out of his line to deny the Spaniard in a one-on-one situation.
In the second half, Goa brought in Sahil Tavora and he came close with a long ranger which had to be blocked by Shabir with a diving save.
However, it were Punjab who broke the deadlock in the 57th minute. Suhail cut through the wings and unleashed a grounder which came off the upright. But the rebound fell straight to Vidal, who smashed it home for the opener.
Manolo needed more options upfront and introduced Brison Fernandes along with Jay Gupta in defence.
Goa created chances but they were simply not good enough to break the rival defence. Manolo decided to sacrifice Jhingan and sent young forward Alan Saji in.
Goa kept on pushing, and with two minutes on the clock, their hard work paid off. Brison’s cross was not cleared cleanly by Ashis Pradhan and Borja chested the ball down and unleashed a clean half volley for the equaliser.
The teams were heading for penalties, but Goa had other plans. Their persistence was rewarded as Yasir got hold of the ball inside the danger zone and unleashed a shot which deflected off Croatian Ivan Novoselec to deceive Shabir.
In the final minutes, Punjab’s Pramveer was sent off for a second booking.