Goa Battles Hard in Close 2-1 Loss to Al Nassr in AFC Champions League

Goa:

FC Goa showed resilience and fight despite falling to a 2–1 defeat against Saudi Pro League heavyweights Al Nassr FC in their third AFC Champions League Two (ACL 2) Group D match at the Fatorda Stadium on Wednesday, October 22. While the result marked the Gaurs’ third straight loss in the competition, the performance, especially in the second half, offered glimpses of promise for Manolo Marquez’s side, who continue to search for their first points in the continental tournament.

FC Goa were up against one of the tournament favourites in Al Nassr, who, even without Cristiano Ronaldo and with stars like Sadio Mane and Joao Felix starting on the bench, dominated possession and territory from the opening whistle. Al Nassr made their intentions clear early, with Brazilian winger Angelo Gabriel opening the scoring in the 10th minute with a thunderous long-range strike past a diving Hrithik Tiwari. Sixteen minutes later, Haroune Camara doubled the lead after neatly converting a cross from Aiman Yahya.

Goa, however, showed spirit before half-time. After an injury to forward Javier Silverio forced an early change, substitute Brison Fernandes made the most of his opportunity. In the 41st minute, he latched onto a through ball from Borja Fernandez, skipped past his marker, and calmly slotted it home to bring the home crowd to life.

The picture changed in second half

The second half saw more dominance from the Saudi side, but FC Goa remained compact and looked dangerous on the counter. One of their best chances came just after Al Nassr introduced Mane and Felix. Boris Singh burst through the defence but was denied by a brave stop from goalkeeper Bento.

Late efforts from substitutes Muhammed Nemil and Rabeeh Kharbudon caused a few nervous moments for the visitors, but the equaliser never came. The night ended on a sour note for Goa with David Timor receiving a red card in stoppage time.

With the result, FC Goa remain bottom of Group D, while Al Nassr continue their perfect run. The Gaurs will now prepare for the return leg in Riyadh on November 5, hoping to turn promising moments into points.

          </div>

function loadFacebookScript(){ !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘529056027274737’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’); } window.addEventListener(‘load’, (event) => { setTimeout(function(){ loadFacebookScript(); }, 5000); });