The first goal of the match, which exposed all the weakness of the MEG team, came in the 12th minute following a sloppy effort by the MEG defence line up.
Taking advantage of the delay in clearing the ball by MEG men away from their penalty box, Marcus Maschrenas quickly snatched the ball and fired into the nets giving a 1-0 lead for the Goan team comprising only under-21 players.
Without giving much time for recovery, the second blow for MEG came in the 15th minute. This time it was Goan junior state player Savio Canario attacking from the right. The left-foot kick by Savio landed in the nets over the MEG goal-keeper Kannan. For the next few minutes, the stadium witnessed the MEG players attacking the Goan post with all their guns blazing.
With some regular co-ordinated moves, they earned five corners and some freekicks. But, none of them was converted. MEG striker Ngurneilal Hmar, who scored a hatrick in the knockout round, was tightly marked by the Goan defenders.
On the other hand, Goan strikers were found moving freely in the opponents penalty box. MEG’s solitary goal came in the 33rd minute with the Malayali player Ajiraj K Philip successfully converting the cross from Shiyad.
In the 42nd minute, Marcus Maschrenas again exploited the lapse in the MEG defence. From the mid-field, it was a race between the MEG defender and Marcus for some time.
From just near the goal-post, Marcus lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Kannan, who was proceeding towards him, and extended the lead to 3-1.
Though Marcus continued to attack regularly, MEG did not concede any goal in the second half, thanks to MEG’s coach S P Shaji’s decision to bring goalkeeper Amit Shaw in for Kannan.
The decision was proved right in the second minute of the second half with Amit successfully blocking the shot from Marcus. The genuine chance for MEG in the second half was missed by Sarat Singh in the 87th minute.