Goa's fortunes in free-fall at Fatorda as late Mendoza strike makes Chennai the Champions

FORTUNES ROSE AND FELL within one minute at Fatorda as two late goals saw Chennaiyin FC come back up from a 2-1 deficit to claim a 3-2 win over FC Goa to lift the ISL 2015 championship trophy. It was heartbreak for Zico and his valiant keeper Laxmikant Kattimani who ended the night on a negative note even after making two brilliant penalty saves. And for Materazzi and his stat striker Stiven Mendoza, it was a night of vindication and victory, as the latter scored the winning goal to end the season as a hero even after missing a spot kick.

While Zico chose to field an unchanged side from the 2nd leg of the semi-finals against Delhi Dynamos, Materazzi pulled off a surprise move, benching marquee medio Elano in favour of Bruno Pelissari up front, switching to a more aggressive 4-3-3 in an attempt to lessen the pressure that FC Goa defenders were inevitably going to put on Stiven Mendoza.

But there was prressure all right. Not just on Mendoza - in fact he got a major share of it - but on just about anybody on the pitch in this pressure cooker of a game. And it was a physical battle from the get go.

Goa started the game well but suffered a major early setback when Dudu Omagbemi clash with Mailson Alves over an aerial ball and went straight down. He had to be stretched off, straight to the hospital, for further check-up. Jonatan Lucca replaced him. 

Then Mehrajuddin Wadoo kicked Mandar Rao Desai in the shin and the latter had to receive treatment on the field for a minute or so. Eventually he recovered and carried on with the game. 

But Mehraj was still at it. When Jofre advanced up the left flank Mehraj pulled him down and tis time he received a booking.

The resulting free kick saw Jonatan Lucca line up from a scoring range, and he almost managed to breach the wall. The ball took a deflection from a defender's leg and went out for a corner.

Goa kept on attacking. Romeo ran up and took a shot but Edel stood tall and made the save. 

Then Chennaiyin FC tried to put together a counter attack and in a bizarre occurence, when Mendoza was fed the ball and tried to enter the Goa penalty box, Leo Moura blatantly brought him down in a potential red card offence. But the referee ignored it. What's  worse, as Mendoza appealed frantically for the foul, Goa keeper Laxmikant Kattimani pushed him to the ground, off the ball, in what amounts to violent conduct; another straight red offence. Both the referee and the linesman apparently did not see it. 

The referee, however, was spot on when Bruno Pelissari dived inside Goa box. 

Leo Moura, trying as hard as he could, had a good shot at the goal but Mehraj put a stop to that, deflecting it out for a corner. Moura then went on to foul Mendoza just as he was about to start another run.

But still Mendoza found a gap. He combined with Jeje and suddenly the Goa defence was caught napping. The Colombian was striaght through the defence line and had a clear shot at goal but Laxmikant pulled off a great save to deny him.

As the first half neared a goal-less closure, fouls were still happening all over the place. Dhanachandra Singh brought down Bikramjit from behind in what Zico thought was a bookable offense but the referee did not think so.

So at half-time in the Hero ISL 2015 final the scoreline read 0-0. But that wasn't to be for long. When the action resumed in the second half, what was already a gritty, physical battle went several notches up, and new heroes emerged. 

Zico put in Thongkhosiem Haokip in for Leo Moura at the start of the second half. Chennaiyin FC, for their part, started the half with a renewed urge to attack; especially through Mendoza. And Goa's strategy of stopping the Colombian by hook or by crook was about to backfire.

Mendoza ran into the Goa box and Pronay Halder brought him down. It was an obvious penalty for Chennaiyin FC. Bruno Pelissari stepped up to take it while Laxmikant Kattimani got ready to face it.

It wasn't the best of shots. Laxmikant could guess which side he would shoot, he got a hand to it and kept it out. But in a show of poor reflex from FC Goa defenders, Pelissari was able to run straight in and get the ball unopposed. He had a second crack at a practically open goal and this time he did not miss. Chennaiyin FC went 1-0 ahead.

But Goa weren't about to give up and they pushed for an equalizer immediately. As Rafael Coelho made a run Thoi Singh fouled him and got booked. But Goa weren't going to be kept out for long as Romeo found some space and ran up the right flank and sent in a perfectly placed cross for substitute Thongkhosiem Haokip to tap in. It was 1-1 with half an hour to go.

And then Goa almost messed up big time. Mendoza ran straight into the box with the ball and Kattimani rushed forward to tackle him. He did not get the ball, there appeared to be contact and Mendoza went down. The referee pointed towards the penalty spot. Kattimani was angry, Gregory went and yelled at the referee in protest. He was shown a yellow.

Stiven Mendoza volunteered to take the penalty since Pelissari had already missed one. But the shot he took was brilliantly anticipated by Laxmikant who slapped the ball out of the way. It was the second penalty save of the night for the Dempo keeper; an incredible feat by any means. And he looked set to be one of the heroes of the night. At that time.

Chennaiyin FC made a double substitution. Elano replaced goa-scorer Bruno Pelissari and Jeje Lalpekhlua made way for Jayesh Rane. The score was tied at 1-1 and Goa was still knocking on Chennai's door. 

Jofre was unleashing a wave of attack on the opposition. He ran past Mehraj and Thoi Singh and let fly but Edel got to it. Then Romeo fed Rafael who crossed to Haokip but Edel saved the latter's shot at goal again.

Mendoza ran in again from the left flank and had a shot at goal but Kattimani stopped that. By now there were about five minutes left of the regulation time and the match looked set to enter extra time.

And then Goa got a free kick thanks to Blasi's hand-ball. Jofre took the free kick and he sent it straight through the wall. Edel could not see it coming from the jungle of defenders' legs. His reaction wasn't fast enough and the ball went straight in. The Fatorda Stadium went mental. Jofre ran around shirtless and picked up a yellow for that. But it didn't matter. Because FC Goa were 2-1 up with about 4 minutes left in the game. They were on the verge of victory.

And then their fortunes turned right on its head. All within one minute. On the 90th minute, Mehraj sent a long ball inside that Mendoza and Kattimani both went for. Kattimani's gloves got to the ball. But his clearance wasn't good enough. The ball simply bounced on his hands and went straight into the goal. The hero of the night, who had made two monumental penalty saves on a night like this, suddenly had an own goal to his name. And Chennaiyin FC were back on level terms. It was 2-2. They added on 5 minutes of injury time.

But the Gaurs' woes were still not over. Because the very next minute, Jayesh Rane sent a ball to Mendoza who ran straight into the box with it, past the Goa defensive line. Laxmikant, trying to position himself to block the Colombian, slipped. And by the time he got back up it was too late. Mendoza had come too close and had too wide a gap to tap the ball into. Laxmikant could only grasp the air as the ball went past him, straight into the net. Chennaiyin FC were 3-2 ahead.

That was it. A match that had seen Goa dominate most of it, come back from a deficit and spectacularly take the lead towards the end, suddenly tilted towards Chennaiyin FC over one mad minute. Laxmikant, the penalty-saving hero, was now a fumbling villain, and Mendoza, the man who missed a crucial penalty, was suddenly restored in his position as Chennaiyin's biggest hero. 

The match ended with the stadium in stunned silence. Fireworks went up, Chennai players celebrated, but somewhere the evening had struck a wrong chord. The FC Goa team left the pitch and did not come back for the entirety of the prize distribution ceremony. To say they were unlucky would be an understatement; from Dudu's injury to the last two goals, it was all a culmination of bad moments for them. But the fact that their best weapon to stop Mendoza was fouling him makes his late winning goal smell of poetic justice. 

As for Chennaiyin FC players, they ended their campaign with a moment of grace, holding up a banner dedicated to the flood victims of Chennai. It was a fitting end to a campaign full of twists and turns that saw them lose regularly and fall to the bottom of the points table at one point, but they turned things around and ended the year with the trophy. Materazzi, who received two rounds of bumps from his players, has finally found his efforts vindicated. Thankfully, this year, his team did not lose out due to a missed penalty.