Spanish striker Iker Guarrotxena struck a brace as FC Goa outclassed Mumbai City FC 3-1 to snap their 13-game-long winless run against the Islanders in the Indian Super League (ISL) here on Wednesday.
Guarrotxena scored in the 34th and 41st minutes before Borja Herrera added another goal for FC Goa in the 64th minute.
Lallianzuala Chhangte (90+7th) pulled one back for Mumbai City.
The Gaurs have thus strengthened their placing at the second spot, bagging 39 points after 20 games with 11 victories and six draws.
Guarrotxena attacked the FC Goa defence single-handedly, taking the onus to score the first goal with a brilliant effort in the 24th minute.
Picking the ball at the edge of the 18-yard box, Guarrotxena tip-toed the entire Mumbai City defence before getting to a central position, still outside the penalty area, before drilling the ball into the bottom right corner to capture the lead.
Guarrotxena doubled the lead for the visitors through the help of Udanta Singh in the 41st minute.
The surge of FC Goa offences hadn't stopped and Guarrotxena made the most of it by positioning perfectly at the centre of the box as Udanta dragged the Mumbai City players behind with a darting run down the right flank, beating his nearest marker Vikram Partap Singh.
Udanta's cross barged into the box and met Guarrotxena with absolute perfection, who slotted it into the bottom right corner precisely.
At the brink of the hour mark, Jorge Ortiz laid out a pass for Vikram at a difficult angle, quite distant from the goal on the right side. Vikram rushed his eventual shot but landed the effort on target still, which was saved by Hrithik Tiwari between the posts.
Soon afterwards, Borja Herrera got FC Goa a cushion of an additional goal when he timed his run inside the box perfectly, to jump upon a meek headed clearance by Mehtab Singh. Herrera was unmarked and he deposited the ball into the bottom right corner in the 64th minute.
Ortiz tried to pull strings back in at the other end, stretching the Gaurs and thumping in a cross for Jon Toral a couple of minutes later. It was saved in the top right corner by Tiwari though with the eventual shot lacking the finesse required to cut the deficit.
Toral turned provider by finding Lallianzuala Chhangte in the centre of the box in the 78th minute with a slick delivery that the Mumbai skipper was unable to convert and instead shot high and wide on the left.
Manolo Marquez jumped upon the chance to close out the game by bringing in Dejan Drazic, Seriton Fernandes, and Sahil Tavora for Herrera, Udanta, and Ayush Dev Chhetri just prior to the 90th minute mark.
The Gaurs were thus fortified for the added time of the second half, but a foul by goalkeeper Tiwari led to the Islanders gaining a spot-kick late into the game.
Chhangte stepped up and converted the penalty with a left-footed shot in the centre of the net to gain a consolation goal, depriving the Gaurs of the clean sheet, though they walked away with all three points.
FC Goa will play their next game against Kerala Blasters FC on February 22, whereas Mumbai City FC will clash against Hyderabad FC on February 19.
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