(Football news) Defending champions Mumbai City FC defeated FC Goa 3-0 at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Monday. Goals from Angulo (33' P, 36') and Brazilian Ygor Catatau (76') were all it took for the team owned by the City Football Group to begin their season on a positive note. Head Coach Des Buckingham included Mumbai City’s new signings in the starting XI with the likes of Apuia, Mohammad Nawaz, Rahul Bheke, and Cassio Gabriel featuring alongside Angulo. For FC Goa, Airam Cabrera featured in the attack while Brandon Fernandes was unavailable due to injury.

The match had some drama early on as Leander D'Cunha tripped Vignesh Dakshinamurthy inside the box but no penalty was awarded and the player was subbed off after experiencing pain. However, after the half an hour cooling break the game became more open as Gabriel received a cross which Ivan Gonzalez looked to clear but the mistimed tackle resulted in a penalty kick. Angulo scored past his old teammate Dheeraj Singh to open the scoring which was doubled three minutes later with Raynier Fernandes taking a sharp turn in the midfield and providing an assist for Angulo.

The reigning champions could have scored their third goal of the evening but Raynier’s shot hit the crossbar. FC Goa had a few of their own chances as Juan Ferrando introduced Nongdamba Naorem in the second half and Captain Edu Bedia saw his shot fly over the bar. A spectacular second half performance by Cassio Gabriel saw the 29 year old Brazilian making some threatening runs inside FC Goa’s box but the third goal came from Ygor Catatau who headed home a freekick by Ahmed Jahouh in the 76th minute.

FC Goa will face Jamshedpur FC in their next Indian Super League fixture on Friday, hoping to secure a win and get their season back on track.

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