Itanagar: Goa came back from the dead to beat Manipur 2-1 in extra time to ensure their 14th appearance in the Santosh Trophy final, here on Thursday.
While Ngangbam Pacha Singh put Manipur in the lead in the 18th minute, Necio Maristo Fernandes (90+6', 116) struck twice to take Goa into the final, where they will clash with Services, who got the better of Mizoram 2-1.
In what was a highly spirited semifinal, Goa looked all but ready to go back home after Ngangbam Pacha Singh put Manipur in front, but Necia Maristo Fernandes scored a brace to win it for Goa.
It was a high-tempo start to the game, with frequent chances at both ends. Within the first 10 minutes, Goa's Lloyd Cardozo and Manipur's Sanathoi Meetei had chances, but both sent their efforts wide.
Sanathoi had another close shave a few minutes later when he was played behind the Goa defence. He had just the keeper to beat and tried to chip him, missing the target by no more than a foot.
Manipur slowly began to grow in the game, employing a three-man high press. Goa, who had implemented a smooth passing game so far in the tournament, found it difficult to beat the press, and seemed shell-shocked.
This eventually led to Manipur breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute, when the high press let to the North-Eastern side getting the ball in the Goa half.
Pacha Singh saw his window of opportunity and pulled the trigger from about 30 yards, leaving Goa goalkeeper Antonio Dylan Inacio da Silva flat-footed in front of the goal.
The ball struck the underside of the bar and dropped inside the goal, before bouncing out into da Silva's grasp.
Certain that they had taken the lead, the Manipur players burst into celebration, as a good number of their fans broke into celebration.
Referee Jehrul Islam took a moment to confer with his assistant before awarding the goal.
The complexion of the game completely changed after the change of ends, however, as Goa came out looking for a way back, Manipur were happy to sit back and hit on the counter, though they were not as successful at the latter.
Goa finally got the equaliser deep into injury time (the referee gave eight minutes of it).
From a melee inside the box, Necio Maristo Fernandes produced a moment of brilliance, as he acrobatically back-volleyed the ball into the goal from inside the box, sending the game into extra time.
Manipur came back strongly in extra time, while Goa looked to hit on the counter. It was deep in the second half of extra time, with only four minutes left on the clock, that Necio Fernandes struck again.
He ran on to a low centre from the right and attempted to score, but it was saved by Manipur keeper Siddharth Rana. However, Fernandes ran onto the rebound and poked it in from two yards, evoking fist bumps from his coach. A flurry of red cards ensued as tempers flared at the end of the match.
Manipur head coach Thangjam Saran Singh and a team staff member were shown the red card just after Goa's second goal, while substitute Sushilkumar Singh was sent off in the sixth minute of injury time in extra time.