Mumbai Strikers (MSSC) suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Goans SC on Sunday, 13th April 2014. MSSC were standing tall at the top of the table with 3 wins out of 3 and a healthy goal difference prior to this game. A victory was on the cards as they got off to a good start and put in 2 goals through Ravish D’souza and Arnold Mascarenhas. Ravish converted a penalty while Arnold tapped in from close distance from a Rohit D’souza corner. Although MSSC had a 2 goal cushion, they did not play as per plan and Goans kept piling on pressure. To put it in the coach’s word’s, MSSC were giving away the ball cheaply allowing Goans to stay in the game. Just before half time Goans managed to pull back a goal from a set piece as poor man marking left the defense exposed.
Coach Firmin was fuming during the team talk and was totally dismayed due to the unconvincing display. But nothing seemed to be going right for MSSC even in the second half. Chances were at a minimal and clearances were poor. Goans kept coming at the defense and deservedly scored 2 more goals, ending the match with a 3-2 score line in favor of Goans SC.
MSSC now have to leave behind the past, constructively work on the negatives, and continue doing the positives and concentrate on the upcoming fixtures against ICL and RBI.