ISL 2015: Arnolin's late goal provides FC Goa with lucky win over Kerala

It was the visitors who started the first half on the front foot as they dominated possession and most of the game was being played in Goa's half.

It was an early warning for FC Goa, as the Blasters ran them ragged throughout the first half. Zico shifted from his normal 4-2-3-1 formation to 4-3-1-2. This narrow formation played right into the hands of Kerala Blasters, who exploited the wings to their advantage.

Kerala's wing-backs Marcus Williams and Rahul Bheke pushed forward without any inhibition, and the likes of Cavin Lobo and Sandesh Jhingan joined them to outnumber Goa out wide.

Nicolau Colaco, who made his debut in this game, struggled to contain Williams and Jhingan on the left and Kerala bombarded the Goa penalty area with 10 crosses in the opening 15 minutes of the match.

Eventually Peter Taylor's men converted their dominance into a goal, and as expected, it arrived from a cross. After some lovely build-up, Rahul Bheke received the ball on the right wing and produced a precise cross for Mohammed Rafi. The former Atletico de Kolkata striker drifted in between Gregory Arnolin and Nicolau Colaco and connected with a powerful header to find the back of the net.

In the 39th minute, Kerala had a golden opportunity to stretch their lead, when Luciano gave away a freekick after fouling Rafi at the edge of the box. Cavin Lobo stepped up and his attempt struck the crossbar.

Goa were failing to create any significant openings in this game, but Leo Moura scored the equalizer against the run of play with a moment of magic. In the 45th minute, Kerala goalkeeper Stephen Bywater failed to collect a corner and only managed to punch it towards Moura at the edge of the penalty box. The Brazilian controlled the ball delightfully with his first touch, and then volleyed it past the hapless custodian into the top corner.

Even Zico seemed surprised about the fact that both the teams went into the half-time break tied at 1-1.

Despite his team struggling to keep up with Kerala, Zico did not make any personnel or tactical changes for the second half and Peter Taylor's men continued to hog all the possession.

But, despite all their intricate build-up play, Kerala failed to score a goal and they were made to pay for it. Gregory Arnolin provided the home side with an unlikely lead in the 84th minute of the game, as he met Mandar Rao Desai's corner with a thumping header.

The match ended 2-1 in favour of Goal as the French defender's goal proved to be the winner. Despite dominating the game, they went away from the Fatorda Stadium empty-handed and Peter Taylor will be disappointed with that. The Englishman can't really fault his team's performance after this loss, but the lack of clinical finishing upfront has haunted them in this campaign.

Zico will thank his stars for this result, but he will have to rethink his tactics for the next game. Without the likes of Mandar, Romeo Fernandes and Jofre, their attack becomes one dimensional as they lack the width to stretch opposing defences. However, his team did enough on the night to put them back at the top of the points table and put their title challenge back on track.