Irfan Yadwad scored against FC Goa again, and Chiki’s header made it 1-1 for the second meeting running
Chennaiyin led at Fatorda through Irfan Yadwad’s strike just after the hour, before Chiki headed FC Goa level in the 75th minute of both sides’ ISL opener.
Oct 11, 2026
FC Goa and Chennaiyin have now played the same game twice. In Chennai in March, it was goalless at half-time, Irfan Yadwad put Chennaiyin ahead after the break, and Goa headed an equaliser to make it 1-1. At Fatorda on Saturday, in the first league game of Gouramangi Singh’s time as Goa coach, the script barely changed.
Yadwad struck just after the hour, Chiki headed Goa level in the 75th minute, and both clubs start the new Indian Super League season with a point.
A quiet first half, then Yadwad again
Both sides spent the first 45 minutes trying to build from the back, and neither found a way through. With so many new faces on both teams, that was not a surprise. Chennaiyin replaced every one of last season’s foreign players over the summer, and Goa have several new foreign signings, Chiki among them.
The breakthrough came from a Chennaiyin player who was here before the rebuild. Yadwad found space and drove a right-footed shot into the far corner. He also scored the goal in Chennai in March, and both times he did it after the interval.
Goa hit the woodwork twice before Chiki’s header
Goa should have been level sooner. A long-range curler hit the post around the 70th minute, and Udanta Singh then rattled the crossbar. The equaliser came from a set piece. Udanta was fouled in the Chennaiyin half, the free kick was swung in, and Chiki, one of Goa’s summer signings from Spain, headed it into the bottom-right corner.
Goa pushed for a winner after that and finished with four corners to Chennaiyin’s one, but they could not find a second.
Not a bad night for either coach
Before kick-off Gouramangi had played down the meeting with Clifford Miranda, his old team-mate with India and Dempo. “Saturday isn’t about Gouramangi and Clifford,” he said. Miranda took the long view too, pointing out that beating Goa would not win Chennaiyin the league and losing would not lose it.
I think Miranda will be the happier of the two. Chennaiyin finished 13th last season, and a point away at Fatorda with a new squad is a decent start. Goa will feel they left two points out there, though a draw is not a disaster for a side with this many new pieces.
Their schedule is the odd part. Goa now go to Kuwait for their AFC Challenge League group, played from 17 to 24 October, and their next league game is not until SC Delhi visit Fatorda on 28 October. Chennaiyin are back in action much sooner, with the southern derby away to Bengaluru FC on 17 October. Bengaluru are top after beating SC Delhi 3-2, so that should tell us a lot more about this Chennaiyin side.