FC Goa on Wednesday secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hyderabad FC in their Indian Super League (ISL) match to give a fitting tribute to their head coach Manolo Marquez in his 100th game in the competition.
First-half strikes by Udanta Singh (33rd minute) and Iker Guarrotxena (44th) propelled the Gaurs to their fourth straight victory as they cruised through the proceedings with a sublime control over the flow of the game.
The visitors were assertive in possession as they discovered newer ways to breach past the Hyderabad FC defence.
The Gaurs operated in tandem, marching seamlessly through the flanks to keep pushing at the opposition's backline and reaped rewards when Udanta and Guarrotxena demonstrated clinical finishing touches.
Udanta's goal was a making of his teammate Mohammad Yasir's eye for a decisive pass. As the Gaurs tried to build up attack from the back, Yasir dropped down the field, received the ball and started sprinting ahead past the Hyderabad FC midfield and defensive lines on the right flank.
As he cut through inwards from the wing, he spotted Udanta coming at a promising goal-scoring position at the centre of the 18-yard box.
Yasir delivered a deft pass, which Udanta received and placed immediately to the bottom left corner to open the scoring for the night.
Eleven minutes later, Yasir was again instrumental in creating the play that led to a goal by the Gaurs. He steamrolled with the ball and burst at the edge of the box from the right flank, before making a pass to Armando Sadiku who was beside him.
Sadiku demonstrated tremendous awareness by back-heeling the ball in Guarrotxena's path, and the latter did the rest by smashing a strike into the bottom left corner to double the team's lead, which proved sufficient for them to bag the three points.
Hyderabad FC's occasional efforts in the second half of the game fell short of yielding the required outcomes to them.
Soyal Joshy attempted an ambitious effort from the outside of the box in the 50th minute that was saved by FC Goa custodian Hrithik Tiwari.
Three minutes later, Cy Goddard and Andrei Alba teamed up to test the Gaurs' backline, but that effort wasn't precise enough either as Alba's shot didn't land on target.
Real Kashmir continue to shine at home with 2-1 win over Delhi FC; Churchill notch first win
Real Kashmir FC continued to shine at home by picking up their second win in three matches, beating Delhi FC 2-1 in an I-League match in Srinagar on Wednesday.
Bouba Aminou (72nd minute) and Lalramdinsanga Ralte (84th) scored for the 'Snow Leopards' while Stephane Samir Binong (89th) pulled one back for the Delhi side at the TRC Football Turf ground.
Ishfaq Ahmed-coached Real Kashmir, who have so far played all their matches at home, have seven points from three matches, while Delhi FC suffered their second consecutive defeat to remain with just one point that they earned from the drawn match against Namdhari FC.
Off-the-ball incidents generated more excitement in the first half than the actual game. Delhi FC goalkeeper Debnath Mondal was the centre of attention, though for wrong reasons.
On one occasion, the lanky goalkeeper left his charge and reached the opposite area to argue with the referee on a free-kick decision only to return to his position with a yellow card.
The next time, Mondal dangerously left his area in an attempt to foil a rival striker. He got beaten, and only a goal-line clearance by a defender saved the moment for the visiting side.
Mondal, however, also had his skills in place when he negotiated well with a couple of long rangers.
The 27-year-old finally ran out of luck in the 72nd minute when Cameroonian Bouba Aminou headed home from close.
The second goal came in the 84th minute. This time, Delhi FC defence was caught napping when a through pass found Lalramdinsanga Ralte in the open and he beat the Delhi goalkeeper.
Some excitement was injected into the game when substitute Cameroonian Binong pulled one back for Delhi.
However, instead of a Delhi FC revival, it was Real Kashmir FC, who earned a penalty during the eight-minute add-on time. But, Senegalese recruit Abdou Karim Samb missed the spot kick.
In another match of the day played in Bengaluru, Churchill Brothers notched up their first win of the season, a 3-1 victory against SC Bengaluru.
With the win, the Red Machines moved to four points from three matches.
SC Bengaluru remained at the bottom, having lost all their games thus far. They are the only team yet to log a point in the season so far.
Spaniard Jordan Lamela (12th minute) gave the newly-promoted SC Bengaluru some hope early on, giving them the lead. However, Churchill Brothers were quick to bounce back in the game.
Colombian Sebastian Gutierrez (25th) equalised in the first half itself, before Senegalese midfielder Pape Alassane Gassama (38th) converted a penalty minutes before the half-time whistle.
Wayde Lekay (81st) scored his third goal in as many matches, in the closing stages, to put the match beyond any doubt.
