Panaji: When Manuel Lanzarote decided to spurn offers from four Indian clubs and opted to sign on the dotted line for FC Goa , Ferran Corominas must have been delighted.

Now the leading goal-getter in the Indian Super League with 18 goals in 18 matches, Corominas, or Coro as he is popularly called, knew what Lanzarote can do with the ball at his feet.

They played together for a long time at Espanyol in Spain , and now that they were uniting again for one big assignment in unknown India, it helped to have someone you can trust by your side.

And how that has helped.

Coro and Lanzarote have combined to form one of the deadliest strike pairs in the ISL , and their 30 goals together is testimony of just how difficult they have made it for rival defenders. While Coro’s 18 goals make him the overwhelming favourite for the Golden Boot, Lanzarote’s 12 goals have had rival clubs circling around him for his prized signature.

“When you know each other’s game and movement, it makes it a lot easier,” said Lanzarote, who set-up Coro five times this season. Coro returned the favour by setting up four goals for his Spanish teammate.

Goa have scored 42 goals in 18 matches so far – the highest in the league -- with Coro and Lanzarote contributing a mind-boggling 30. The Spanish duo’s goals alone are more than what defending champions ATK (16) and bottom-placed NorthEast United FC (12) could not combine to score.

Coach Sergio Lobera has assembled an attractive squad that swears on the bible of attacking football , and despite there being concerns at the back with Goa failing to keep a clean sheet until the 16th league match, he knew that the likes of Coro and Lanzarote would almost always bail them out of jail.

It has also helped that Lobera picked his Spanish component carefully. Coro and Lanzarote have played together since their youth football days at Spanish club Espanyol, while another influential Spanish player – Edu Bedia – was until last year combining with Lanzarote in the centre of midfield at Real Zaragoza.

“Coro is someone who I played with for a very long time through the age divisions at Espanyol. I played with Edu last year at Real Zaragoza. I know them quite well,” said Lanzarote.

Handed a free role upfront, Coro has been the deadliest of them all, scoring against every team this season. He measured up to the challenge in the crucial last three games; when Goa needed to win all of them, Coro put his hand up, scored five goals and provided two assists with a shot accuracy of 100%. (10 shots, 10 on target).

Lanzarote too has not lagged behind scoring four goals in the last three matches.

As the semifinal battle draws near, Goa will be praying that the Spanish pair does not stop scoring.

