Premier Futsal: Ryan Giggs' Mumbai and Michel Salgado's Kochi to face-off in the final

Goa: In a thrilling encounter, Mumbai 5s held their nerve to defeat Kolkata 5s 4-2 in the first semi-final of the Premier Futsal and storm into the finals to be played on Sunday. Mumbai’s in-form player Colombian Angellot, who starred in the win with three goals, was ably supported especially by Charanpreet and Fogila during the match played at the Peddam Indoor Stadium here. Angellot continued his good form and netted the ball in the 9th minute and gave the side a lead over their rivals. He displayed some outstanding skills as he scored evading the Kolkata defence. [caption id=“attachment_2911554” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mumbai beat Kolkata 4-2 to reach the Premier Futsal final. Image Courtesy: Premier Futsal twitter[/caption] Both the sides, though were aggressive in their approach in the quarter, Mumbai 5s had an upper hand. Kolkata players too had their chances, but missed them on occasions. The story remained the same in the second quarter with Mumbai dominating and scoring 2 goal to make it 3-0 at the half time even as their crowd cheered for their marquee player and former Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs. In the 11th minute, it was Angellot again who scored his second goal and extended the lead. The coordination and passes of the Mumbai players was up to the mark and so were their counter attacks. Kolkata remained clueless in this quarter. In the 20th minute, Kevin Ramiraz made it 3-0 as he nut megged the keeper and put pressure on them. Futsal is a game where things can change within minutes and Kolkata 5s fans witnessed it in the third quarter as they tried to bounce back by scoring two quick goals. While it was Vander Carioca who scored in the 22nd minute with a brilliant volley, in the 24th minute in what was a successful counter attack, Gabrial netted the ball to make it 3-2. Mumbai could have gone way ahead had Angellot not missed a definite chance and a pass after just a few seconds in the the quarter. In the fourth quarter, Angellot made the most of Kolkata 5 week defence and what was an open goal post, he scored it easily in the 32nd minute taking his team ahead 4-2. During the match, Mumbai keeper Luis Amado too saved some good shots from the opposition players. Their defence remained strong as they did not give any opportunity to Kolkata 5s players in the quarter. Kolkata tried hard but all their efforts went in vain as they were unable to match Mumbai and at the end of the play, it was Mumbai all over. In the second keenly-contested semi-final, it was Chaguinha’s double strike which helped Kochi 5s defeat Goa 5s 2-1 to set up a summit clash with Mumbai 5s side. The opening quarter saw both the teams looking dominant. While Kochi within the first two minutes had an edge in terms of possession, Goa soon took charge and leveled the things. A brilliant save by Goa 5s keeper Bebe ensured that Kochi did not take the lead. A few minutes later, it was again Bebe who did an outstanding save as Kochi’s Anupam failed to net the ball. A jam-packed crowd supported the Goa side and in particular their marqee player the Brazilian Cafu. The first quarter remained goalless. In the second quarter, it was Kochi who took the lead as Chaguinha did the trick and with his skills netted the ball in the 13th minute. A defiant Kochi keeper Cassalone stood between the Goa players and his post and saved almost every shot, the others were missed by Goa players sometime wide and narrowly on occasions. Right at the beginning of the third quarter, it was an experienced Vampeta who dodged two defenders and brought Goa back into the game as he scored in the 22nd minute to make it 1-1. After conceding the first goal, Kochi changed their strategy and did a man to man marking. Changuiha showing excellence presence of mind scored in the 27th minute and once again took his side ahead 2-1. The most interesting of the quarter was the last, where quite a few chances were missed by Goa to net the ball, at times by hitting over the post, or just outside it. In an desperate attempt, Goa substituted their keeper with another player but that too did not work. At the death, Goa tried everything in the book but did not succeded.