FC Goa were rampant against Mumbai City FC in their Hero Indian Super League encounter on Tuesday night at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda. Thongkhosiem Haokip and Dudu both scored hat-tricks while Reinaldo scored a late goal in a 7-0 rout of Mumbai in front of 18,573 spectators.
The visitors were finding it difficult to deal with Raju Gaekwad’s long throw-ins into the box during the opening stages. Mumbai keeper Subrata Paul was called into action in the 10th minute when a Joffre free-kick forced him into a save.
Mumbai’s first big chance of the game came 10 minutes later when a neat ball into space sent Sunil Chhetri clear on the right. He failed to capitalise on the opportunity though after cutting in on his left before pulling the trigger.
FC Goa should have been in the lead shortly after but Romeo Fernandes failed to hit the target after a Leo Moura free-kick was saved by Paul. The rebound fell to Fernandes after Moura’s powerful strike but the youngster blazed over the crossbar from within the penalty area.
The deadlock was broken in the 34th minute after Paul came out to close down Dudu who was through on goal. Paul managed to put off Dudu but Haokip was in the right place at the right time to slot in the hundredth goal of the second season and put Goa 1-0 up.
It was 2-0 eight minutes later when their latest acquisition Dudu was played through on the edge of Mumbai’s box. The Nigerian striker made no mistake and smashed in his first goal of Hero ISL 2015. Nicolas Anelka almost pulled one back late in the half for his side but FC Goa keeper Laxmikant Kattimani stood in the way. Cristian Bustos hit the rebound straight into Kattimani’s arms as the visitors headed into the break trailing 2-0.
The Gaurs were out of sight seven minutes after the restart when playmaker Joffre put in a perfectly weighed ball across the box on which Haokip managed to get his foot to bag his second of the night and Goa’s third.
Mumbai City FC did try to force a way back into the match but keeper Kattimani stood resolutely in goal to deny efforts from Frederic Piquionne, Keegan Pereira and substitute Sampathkumar Kuttymani in quick succession.
FC Goa, however, were having no trouble finding the back of the net. They made it 4-0 in the 64th minute with Dudu bagging his second of the night. Lucio headed in a Joffre free-kick at Paul which he managed to parry away as far as Dudu. The 30-year-old showed his poacher’s instincts and did the rest to make it two goals in as many games.
He got his hat-trick two minutes later when Moura ran through Mumbai’s defence to lay the ball off at the six-yard line with Dudu doing the rest. This was Hero ISL 2015’s fourth hat-trick of the season and the third involving Mumbai City FC.
Things would get worse for the visitors with Haokip getting a hat-trick of his own 10 minutes before normal time. Fernandes ran straight at the heart of Mumbai’s defence and unleashed a shot which Paul found too hot to handle. Haokip was once again perfectly positioned to tap the ball into the net as the goals kept on coming.
The goal fest continued with substitute Reinaldo scoring Goa’s seventh of the night in Hero ISL’s biggest win ever. FC Goa now sit pretty at the summit of the table with 18 points, while Mumbai City FC occupy the sixth spot with 12 points.
