Mapusa (Goa), July 19: Home side Goa drew with Kolkata 2-2 as Mumbai led their group with a 4-3 victory over Chennai.
The second leg of the inaugural Premier Futsal tournament kicked off with much anticipation at the Peddem Indoor Stadium in Mapusa, Goa.
The first match went ahead according to the initial schedule as the home team Goa 5s took on Kolkata 5s. Goa were without their replacement marquee player Cafu, flown in for the now departed Ronaldinho.
It was a game of two halves in the unostentatious sense. Kolkata 5s dominated the first quarter with both possession and tricks, as a result ther Hernan Crespo led team found themsleves two up in the very first ten minutes of the game. Pula provided some Russian razzmatazz early on as he broke the deadlock. Kolkata went ahead with the experienced futsallers with Crespo mainly on the bench.Akshay Nair missed a chance to double the lead for his team but Vander Carioca came good as Goa had to resort to the catching up game. The second quarter, Goa redeemed themselves but there was no advancement in the scoreline.
In the absence of Ronaldinho and the unavailability of Cafu, Rafael and Vampeta grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to entertain the home crowds. Vampeta found past 'Spiderman' Cidao courtesy a Rafael lay through to make the scoreline 1-2.
Vampeta yet again found the equaliser through a swift counter attack and turned the game into an interesting one but it remained 2-2 till the end.
Ryan Giggs' Mumbai 5s faced Falcao's Chennai 5s in the late kick-off of the evening.
Adriano Foglia gave Mumbai the lead but soon enough Sean Garnier, one of the world's best freestylers equalised for Chennai. Romulo made it 1-2 and Chennai though were leading had a major blow when their star man, Falcao was subbed off owing to an injury.
Mumbai's Angellot probably scored the goal of the tournament as he made it all square. A swift attack from the left ended with the ball in the back of the net as Chennai led 2-3 at the end of the third quarter.
The fans clad in Manchester United red were treated to a Ryan Giggs special. The 42 year old was on-song as he got a crucial goal, equalising matters as he brought up his first goal in Premier Futsal.
Foglia made it 4-3 in favour of Mumbai with a shot going between the 'keepers legs, bringing up his fourth goal overall, followed by a Ronaldinho-esque celebration.
With that win, Mumbai 5s went up with 6 points and secured a place in the semi-finals as Falcao's Chennai and Michel Salgado's Chennai will battle it out for the last spot from Group B.
