Richarlyson's half-volley gives Goa first win

FC Goa held their teeth together to grind out a gritty 1-0 victory against Mumbai City FC to win their first match of the season at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai.

Goa were on a sequence of four defeats and one draw going back to last season's final, but that streak ended with resolute defending and a well-taken goal from midfielder Richarlyson, as an off-colour Mumbai blew the chance to go top of the table.

Mumbai's attack was at its fluid best in the thrilling draw against Delhi Dynamos, but head coach Alexandre Guimares tinkered with his strike force on Friday, bringing back marquee player Diego Forlan in place of Brazilian Leo Costa in a 4-2-3-1.

This time, the chemistry was not quite there as Forlan, Matias Defederico and Sony Norde often ran into the wrong channels, and failed to read each other's movements.

The team relied on individual skill and ability to get forward; Norde was the hosts' most creative outlet in the first half, dribbling past defenders, and drawing fouls around the box.

Goa have lacked incision and quality in their overall play all season, and coach Zico, realising that, set up with a cautious 4-3-3. However, even with the extra man at the centre, Goa could not take advantage early on, as Richarlyson, Trindade Goncalves and Pratesh Shirodkar were too slow on the turn, and often, chasing their Mumbai counterparts.

As a result, the game descended into a scrap. Goa conceded foul after foul - 10 of them in the first 20 minutes - but Mumbai's set-pieces left a lot to be desired, as Defederico's radar was surprisingly off all night.

For all of Mumbai's possession, they were reduced to speculative long-rangers from Forlan; the shots troubled row Z at the Mumbai Football Arena more than they did Goa's keeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, who did not have to make a difficult save throughout the match.

Goa created very little themselves, but they knew that so long as their defence was solid and the score-line remained goalless, they were in with a shout of stealing a goal.

In the 41st minute, they perfectly executed that burglary. While Mumbai wasted away all their free-kicks, Goa made their only decisive one count.

Brazilian forward Julio Cesar had the chance to swing one in from the right, but instead, he caught the Mumbai defenders off guard by chipping the ball behind them towards the edge of the box. Neither Aiborlang Khongjee nor Lucian Goian scented any danger, and Richarlyson pounced on their indecisiveness, sneaking in from behind to steer a half-volley past Roberto Tigrao off the underside of the bar.

The goal was Goa's first ever in Mumbai, and going into the break, it blew new life into the visitors. They started the second half on the stronger foot, and spurned two glorious opportunities to double their lead.

Cesar had a part to play in both, first knocking down a long ball on to the path of an unmarked Robin Singh inside the box, and then delivering another inviting cross to the head of Raju Gaikwad. Robin and Gaikwad both let their teammate down, and Mumbai were given a let off.

The hosts immediately upped the urgency, and charged forward in search of an equalizer, but Rafael Dumas and Gregory Arnolin were assured at the back, picking off every loose ball and intercepting every cross. Defederico had a decent glimpse at goal in the 54th minute when he danced past two defenders and set himself up for a shot, but curled it wide of the net.

Mumbai did not come close to scoring again for the rest of the game, as Zico, after four failed attempts, finally got his game plan right. He shut shop at the back, confident that his defenders had everything covered, and with Mumbai overloading players in attack, the option of a counterattack was always there.

Mumbai huffed and puffed, but could do little with their sterile possession. Norde ran down blind alleys, Defederico was subbed off with what looked like a groin injury, and Forlan's first touch deserted him.

After a lively start to the season, Mumbai finally seemed to have run out of gas. They now face the prospect of three difficult away games in Kolkata, Chennai and Guwahati next.

For Goa, they finally found the right pedals. In 2014, the team had only one point from the first four matches, before a win in the fifth sparked a turnaround that enabled them to qualify for the playoffs.

Zico's men will be hoping they can repeat history in 2016.