ISL 2016 | Kerala beat Goa in a thriller which had 2 red cards, 8 yellow cards, countless fights, and dramatic winner
C K Vineeth scored a dramatic late winner against nine-man FC Goa in the ninth minute of added time for a 2-1 victory in an explosive ISL battle in Kochi on Wednesday. The match was peppered with fights, fouls, and controversial incidents, and it ended on a sour note for Zico's men.
Rafael Coelho provided FC
Interestingly, Vineeth had just returned to Kerala Blasters from Bengaluru FC after their AFC Cup engagements and played after joining the team in the afternoon.
The first win for Kerala Blasters at home took them to fourth on the table with 12 points while leaving Goa at the bottom.
FC Goa chief coach Zico surprised many by using just five foreign players while leaving international players like Joffre Gonzalez and Trindade Goncalves on the bench. He continued with a strong defence that had three international players and appeared to be banking on them to shut out
Kerala Blasters, playing at home after four matches away, didn’t mind the strong FC Goa wall of defence but were stunned in the ninth minute when their own defence was caught napping. Robin Singh had won a
Kerala Blasters had their own chances to find the equaliser, particularly in the 17th minute when Rafique’s cross from the right was well measured but Belfort could not keep his header on target.
Rafique was also guilty of not finishing off a move in the 24th minute when he received a nice through ball from Michael Chopra but Goa goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani did well to block the attempt with his legs.
The match took a dramatic twist in the second session when it was just 30 seconds old. FC Goa captain Gregory Arnolin was adjudged to have handled a deflected ball inside the danger area and the referee not just awarded a penalty but also sent off
With an additional player, Kerala Blasters enjoyed the advantage but could not surge ahead as Mohammed Rafi, Rafique and
Kerala were emboldened again when Goa were reduced to nine men in the 80th minute after
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments