FC Goa threw away a comfortable win in the first leg of their 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) semifinal against Mumbai City FC, after Petr Kratky's side scored three goals in injury time to reverse the host's two-goal lead and win 3-2. Boris Singh and Brandon Fernandes had given Goa a 2-0 lead going into the 90th minute before goals from Lallianzuala Chhangte, Vikram Partap Singh and Chhangte once more meant Mumbai stole an incredible win.
The two teams face off in the second leg of the ISL semifinal on Monday, 29 April at 7:30 PM at the Mumbai Football Arena.
Goa were comfortably the better team in regulation time and began the game well, keeping the ball and snuffing out every Mumbai attack. Manolo Marquez's side underlined their superiority in the 16th minute, courtesy an error from Mehtab Singh. It allowed Mohammed Yasir to burst down the left wing, and some clever feet and a superb low cross into the box was tapped into the net by an onrushing Boris Singh. Mumbai were left with no answer for the rest of the half, although Rahul Bheke went close with a header.
The second half was all Goa again, and Brandon Fernandes repeated his heroics from a few days ago, scoring a long-range strike in the 56th minute to give Goa a 2-0 lead, with Mehtab committing another error in the buildup. Goa looked all set to take the win as they held Mumbai off, and there was little danger as the board went up for five minutes of injury time.
Mumbai kept persevering through their substitutes, with Jayesh Rane and Gurkirat Singh combining well for the former to play a beautiful through ball down the middle. Chhangte collected the pass in the box, circled past Dheeraj Singh in the Goa goal and tapped it into an empty net in the 91st minute. Moments later, it was suddenly 2-2 as Vikram Partap Singh rifled in a rebound after Dheeraj palmed Gurkirat's long-range drive into his path.
Goa were crumbling and Mumbai put the seal on their comeback with the final kick of the game. Rane drove through the middle again, held off a few challenges, before his mishit shot fell to Chhangte in the box, and Mumbai's talisman swept the ball home with his left foot to make it a 3-2 win in the first left of the ISL semifinal. An injury-time comeback with three goals, never seen before in ISL history.
(You can relive the match as it happened. Please wait a few seconds for the blog to load. If it doesn't, please click here)