ISL: FC Goa ease past Chennaiyin FC 1-0

FC Goa ran out 1-0 winners over bottom-placed Chennaiyin FC in an Indian Super League game at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here on Thursday.

The win assures FC Goa second place with 34 points, same as Bengaluru FC, but on head-to-head equation a tad behind on the table.

With both Bengaluru FC and FC Goa finishing their league engagements, it's clear now the two will play their second-leg semi-final games at home on March 11 and 12, respectively.

Goa's star Ferran Corominas extended his lead to 14 goals in the race for the Golden Boot award, scoring the winner for Sergio Lobera's team in the 26th minute and seal the second spot in the ISL table for his team.

The loss saw Chennaiyin FC finish at bottom of the league with just 9 points from 18 games -- the lowest tally by an ISL team.

FC Goa dominated the ball with ease and forced Chennaiyin FC to defend deep and in numbers.

Both teams went on to fashion several half chances, however, a goal remained elusive. It came in the 26th minute for Goa. Ahmed Jahouh was the architect, picking out Jackichand Singh's run into the penalty box with a lovely long ball. The winger went on to cushion a first-time pass for Coro who picked his spot past a helpless Karanjit Singh to score his 14th goal of the season.

Goa continued to enjoy the upper hand as the first half went on while Chennaiyin struggled to get hold of the ball.

The narrative remained pretty much the same after the break as well. The Gaurs looked content to slow down the game by holding on to the ball and deny Chenaniyn any chance to recover, except a close call in the 49th minute through a set piece, which gave Jeje an opportunity to net it but it went over.

Goa would go on to see out the game with ease and inflict a 13th loss of the season on Chennaiyin FC.

--IANS

dm/rs/pcj