ISL semi-final 1st leg as it happened: Chennaiyin FC score crucial away goal in 1-1 draw in Goa

Full time! And, Chennaiyin will head home with an away goal

Mailson and Sereno get a yellow in the dying stages of the game. But Chennaiyin came out to play much more positively in the second half. They started making more runs into the Goan box. But the Goan attackers kept breaching the Chennaiyin defence. It was just a matter of time before Lanzarote put them ahead. For Goa, the goal came late considering how threatening they looked in the first half. But the equaliser by Thapa wasn’t expected, he stunned the crowd by shooting the equaliser between Kattimani’s legs. There will be more pressure on Goa when they head to the Marina Arena on Tuesday.

After 90 minutes, FC Goa 1 - 1 Chennaiyin FC: Mark Sifneos comes on for Goa’s goal-scorer Manuel Lanzarote. He jogs off the field to a standing ovation. Applauding him from the stands is Virat Kohli.

After 85 minutes, FC Goa 1 - 1 Chennaiyin FC: Goa’s looking to get another goal after conceding Chennai the away goal advantage. Midfielder Brandon Fernandes makes his way on the field and replaces defender Narayan Das.

After 77 minutes, FC Goa 1 - 1 Chennaiyin FC: Yellow for Manuel Lanzarote. Argues with the referee for not overlooking Sereno’s charge (looked like a foul though). The referee books him for dissent. Harsh call but a crucial one considering Lanza’s been Goa’s lynchpin so far in this season.

GOAL! After 71 minutes, FC Goa 1 - 1 Chennaiyin FC: Anirudh Thapa scrambles to reach Gregory Nelson’s pass. He slides and shoots between the legs of Kattimani. The crowd is stunned and silent.

GOAL! After 64 minutes, FC Goa 1 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Manuel Lanzarote opens the scoring for the hosts. Corominas’s strike deflects off a defender and Lanza’s at the right place at the right time. He fires it in from the goal-mouth.

After 60 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Both teams have made thrilling runs into each others boxes but they haven’t culminated in goals. Example:

After 50 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Too close! Chennai will rue missing that one. Gregory makes a great run, cuts all defenders and just has the keeper Kattimani to beat. But the latter’s all cool. He hardly flinches as he bends down to parry away Gregory’s shot. He’s hurling abuses at himself for missing that. Kattimani keeps a straight face too after the save. Keep calm and save goals!

Half-time! No goals scored so far

Wow, that was an intense first half. Both teams looking to get ahead. Chennaiyin started slow. But once Goa made apparent their intentions to attack, the visitors, too made their forays into the opposition box. But Goa, with three shots on target, have looked slightly more dangerous. Chennaiyin, too, shot at the Goan net thrice but none alarmed the hosts.

After 45 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Two more added minutes. Goa will be frustrated at not having that one final strike that could have put them ahead in this contest. They miss capitalising on a well-taken corner.

After 35 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Gregory Nelson makes a poor effort from outside the box. His left-footed strike lacks pace and power and the keeper easily keeps that out. Could have tried passing.

After 30 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: First yellow card of the match for Jerry Lalrinzuala! Nothing too violent but he nonetheless collided into goes into Seriton Fernandes.

After 25 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Mandar’s at it again. Tries another cross to Coro, but it’s just behind him. Good job by Dhanpal Ganesh, who clears it away.

After 20 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Mandar Rao’s lurking dangerously in the left flank. One perfect cross from him and Goa will be ahead in this encounter. So far, they are the ones in charge. 68% possession too.

After 15 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Lanzarote crosses from the right, looking to find Edu Bedia. The ball almost reaches him too but Inigo intervenes and heads it out. Great defending, could’ve been dangerous otherwise. Bedia’s down though, looks like he’s winded.

After 10 minutes, FC Goa 0 - 0 Chennaiyin FC: Goa’s on the charge! First Mandar Rao cut in two defenders and put in a ball for Corominas. But the latter had no opportunity to strike. Then, Narayan Das made another brilliant cross. But Jerry was there on time to clear it off. The packed crowd at he Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium are having a good time.

Kick-off time: The teams are getting ready for a kick-off. Chennaiyin have to be wary of the Lanza-Coro Combo – they have scored 30 of Goa’s 42 goals this season. Corominas also leads the goal-scorers list with 18 strikes. For Chennai, Jeje, who’s scored only once in the last games, has to step up.

Playing XI

FC Goa: Laxmikant Kattimani (GK/C), Narayan Das, Ahmed Jahouh, Chinglensana Singh, Ferran Corominas, Manuel Lanzarote, Mandar Rao Dessai, Pronay Halder, Seriton Fernandes, Sergio Juste, Edu Bedia. Subs: Bruno Colaco (C), Brandon Fernandes, Pratesh Shirodkar, Manvir Singh, Mark Sifneos, Bruno Pinheiro, Mohamed Ali.

Chennaiyin FC: Karanjit Singh (GK), Henrique Sereno (C), Bikramjit Singh, Gregory Nelson, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Inigo Calderon, Dhanpal Ganesh, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Raphael Augusto, Mailson Alves, Francisco Fernandes. Subs: Pawan Kumar (GK), Anirudh Thapa, Jaime Gavilan, Rene Mihelic, Jude Nworuh, Mohammed Rafi, Keenan Almeida.

Head to head

07:30 pm: The two rivals were all-square in the league stage as FC Goa scored a stunning 3-2 victory in their opening match in Chennai, scoring three goals in the first 45 minutes, while Chennaiyin FC fought back and levelled things out with a 1-0 victory in Goa.

The teams face each other knowing there has never been a draw between them. In the nine matches the two sides have played, Goa won four and Chennaiyin five, including the famous final in 2015.

07:25 pm: Hello all, and welcome to The Field’s live coverage of the semi-final first leg between FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC. It’s the business end of the Indian Super League and two teams who are fairly regular to the playoffs will look to take their first step towards a spot in the final.