FC Goa played their second AFC Champions League Two group stage match at the Hisor Central Stadium, but it ended in, disappointment as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Tajik champions Istiklol.

The home side started brighter, testing Goa’s defense early. In the 2nd minute, Istiklol won a freekick and floated the ball into the Gaurs box, but Siverio was alert to clear the danger. Moments later, Soirov created space and tried his a low shot, but his effort went wide of the near post.

Goa struggled in the opening quarter with Istiklol enjoying maximum ball possession. However, Manolo Marquez’s men slowly began to find their rhythm. In the 21st minute, Goa launched their first meaningful attack when Drazic played in Borja on the overlap, whose cross was blocked for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Pol Moreno got a chance from close range, but his shot flew just over the crossbar, probably Goa’s best chance of the half.

Within starting the second half Gaurs lost their grip. Just a minute after the restart, Istiklol took the lead through Rustam Soirov. A cross from Ehson was headed towards goal by Safarov, and although Sandesh Jhingan tried to deal with it, the ball fell loose inside the box. Soirov reacted quickly and placed it into the net to make it 1-0.

Istiklol kept pressing, and in the 51st minute they almost doubled the lead when Soirov was fouled just outside the box, winning a freekick in a dangerous position. Luckily for Goa, the chance went away without damage.

Goa then tried to hit back with a few moves of their own. In the 54th minute, Sangwan delivered a cross into the box, which Okoro attempt a header, got a corner, with Siverio waiting close by. However, Goa failed to make anything from the set piece. Four minutes later, Brison showed skill to beat his marker on the left flank but slipped at the final moment, wasting a promising position.

In the 61st minute, FC Goa had a free-kick in a promising position. Drazic curled it into the box looking for a teammate, but keeper Qurbonov came out strongly to clear the threat.

At 74th minut, Istikol doubled their lead. Rahimov’s shot inside the box was blocked, but the rebound fell to substitute Reza Dehghani, who fired a low first-time shot into the bottom-left corner.

FC Goa pushed late on, but their attacks faded. In stoppage time, Borja step in for a freekick looking for teammates inside the box, but Istiklol’s defense cleared it with ease. The Gaurs, who had shown some spark earlier, looked out of ideas after the second goal.

In the end, FC Goa could not turn its effort into goals. Even though the team tried to attack through the wings and put in crosses, the final touch was missing. Istiklol was more clinical, with Soirov scoring right after halftime and Reza adding another later to seal the game. FC Goa had only 42% possession compared to Istiklol’s 58%, which showed in the control of the match. This was Goa’s second straight loss in the group stage. The much awaited fixtures is knocking the door for the Gaurs, with Al Nassr coming up next at home on October 22, the challenge will only get tougher for the Gaurs.