FC Goa vs Atlectico de Kolkata!

Goa and Kolkata will lock horns in the second leg of the semi finals. It  is ISL's most talked about rivalry. The fans are all set to see their respective team win.

Courtesy:ISL

The first match of the second leg was hosted by Kolkata at the Salt Lake Stadium, where it all started. Fikru missed the game following his injury and Goan defender, Bruno was on suspension. The match started with Amiri's strong challenge on Borja. the home team had a good start but dominated the attack index marginally. It seemed like this time Borja was on target. After Amiri, it was Slepicka who troubled the Spaniard by kicking on  his leg and received a yellow card as a consequence. Pody's free kick was rightly directed by Borja. As soon as Nato stepped in to provide the final touch, Gregory blocked him. That looked like a penalty but the referee thought otherwise. The visitors led the attack index for the rest of the game but the meeting ended in a goalless draw. Garcia wasted many telling chances with his wide shots. The problem was similar with the visitors. Mandar cut past two defenders and passed the ball to unmarked Romeo who shot it just wide. Slepicka shot straight into the hands of Edel while Santos' shot lacked power. Both the teams now had an important match that would decide their fate. 

Courtesy:ISL

The second match was hosted by Goa and to everyone's surprise, Fikru was excluded from the team, reason being unclear. The fans awaited to see their teams break the dead lock as the earlier part of the semi final ended in a goalless draw. Every game the teams play, start with one or the other kind of foul. This time Pody was brought down by Gregory and Kolkata received a free kick. It was the home team that lead the first period of the attack index. Sanju came with a brilliant series of passes, defeating all the defenders but the final shot, taken by Pody, was off side. This time it were Kolkata who could have received a penalty as Arnab put in a sliding tackle and hit Santos on his leg. There was just a minute long added time at the conclusion of the the first half but plenty of extra time at the end of 90 minutes. The game was stretched to 120 minutes and only saw some substitutions, set pieces, sloppy work but no goal! It all came down to ISL's first penalty shoot out. Goa won the toss but lost the round. Santos and Amiri shot over the cross bar while Kolkata had all the successful shots. Goa highly dominated the attack index for the entire game but Kolkata made it to the finals on penalty.

Courtesy:ISL

Goa and Kolkata became rivals early in the season. Kolkata had a terrific start while Goa sat at the bottom of the table during the entire first round. As the League progressed, we saw Goa raising their game. Zico's men were fierce. In these matches we witnessed Goa's zeal and Kolkata's fear. Goa ruled the attack index for both the matches; Kolkata, however, made it to the finals on shoot out. Garcia will have to raise his game following Fikru's exclusion. It will be Kolkata vs Kerela in the finals.