Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Kerala Blasters vs FC Goa ISL match being played at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, Kerala.
Goals by Luna, Diamantakos and Kaliuzhnyi guide Kerala Blasters to a 3-0 win against FC Goa.
Brison goes for goal from distance but cannot keep his shot down. It is a goalkick for Kerala.
The flashlights are out at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Kerala fans know that victory is near.
Six minutes of added-time at the end of the second-half
Meanwhile, a fight has broken out between Guarrotxena and Rahul KP. Vukomanovic tries to calm Rahul KP down. Blasters are very close to bagging all three points.
Kerala Blasters sub: IN- Mongil OUT- Kaliuzhnyi
Luna sees Dheeraj off his line and tries to catch him out with a shot from inside his own half. But the shot lacks power and direction as the ball rolls out for a Goa goalkick.
Kerala Blasters sub: IN- Saurav, Jessel OUT- Sahal, Sandeep
Not sure what Luna was going for there.- he whips the ball at the far-post but it does not find any Kerala shirt. Gianni had made the run but could not reach the ball.
Edu Bedia fouls Luna and the Blasters have a freekick in a dangerous position. Luna should be lining this up.
FC Goa sub: IN- Brison OUT- Ayush
Bedia swings another excellent cross inside the box from a Goa freekick. Gill with another fingertip save to keep the ball out of the net. Vazquez is there but cannot get his shot away, and Leskovic finally clears. The ball falls to Guarrotxena whose shot blazes over the crossbar. cleared.
Dheeraj does well to save the initial shot but the rebound falls straight to Luna. With Dheeraj off his line, all Luna had to do was keep his shot on target but he blasts his effort over the goal.
Kerala Blasters sub: IN- Gianni, Puitea OUT- Diamantakos, Jeakson
GOOOALLLL!! FC GOA GETS ONE BACK!! IT NOAH!! Seriton Fernandes with a pinpoint cross inside the box to find Noah. Noah takes his time and places his header in the top-right corner to pull one back for the Gaurs.
Save: Guarrotxena breaks clear of his markers after he is played a good pass by Bedia. He opens his body and tries to find the far-corner with a low shot, but Gill is alert enough to get down quickly and make the save.
Vazquez denied!! FC Goa’s Alvaro Vazquez finds the net with an acrobatic finish but the goal is ruled out due to offside. It does not seem like Goa’s night.
Diamantakos with a blatant dive inside the penalty box and Edu Bedia is not happy. A tussle breaks out between the two players before it is stopped. It is heating up at Kochi.
FC Goa visibly shaken. Kerala Blasters, backed by its home support, is out for blood.
GOOOALLL!!! KERALA SCORES ITS THIRD!! KALIUZHNYI WITH A SCREAMER!! Diamantakos finds Ivan with a short pass. Kaliuzhnyi looks up and dispatches a venomous shot from distance. The ball swerves away from Dheeraj and rattles the back of the net. What a strike that was.
Booking: Kerala Blasters’ Sandeep sees yellow for his challenge from behind.
FC Goa needs to start the second-half strongly if after a chaotic end to the first-half. Kerala Blasters in the driver’s seat for now.
Kerala Blasters starts the second-half with a 2-0 lead against FC Goa .
Adrian Luna and Dimitrios Diamantakos on the scoresheet as Kerala Blasters leads 2-0 against FC Goa at HT.
GOOOALLL!! DIAMANTAKOS CONVERTS FROM THE SPOT
PENALTY FOR KERALA!! ANWAR ALI BRINGS DOWN DIAMANTAKOS IN THE BOX!!
GOOOALLLL!!!! KERALA BLASTERS SCORES!! IT IS LUNA!! FC Goa could not clear its lines as Sahal found Luna inside the box. Dheeraj was off his line and it was a simple tap in for Luna.
Nishu with another cheap giveaway. Vazquez takes advantage and passes it to Noah who had made a run on the left. Noah’s shot is blocked. Vazquez then tries but his shot is blocked as well. Finally Bedia goes for goal from distance but blazes it over the bar.
Rahul showing exquisite skill to escape his marker on the left flank. He makes a bursting run but his touch lets him down. It is too heavy and Dohling is there to clear the ball.
The match has lost some of its tempo right now. Kerala Blasters have stopped with their pressing for now.
FC Goa tries to work something with Bedia’s short corner. Hoiwever the ball inside the box is not satisfactory and the Kerala defence deals with it easily.
Booking: Marco Leskovic of Kerala Blasters gets his first yellow card of the season.
Rahul KP swings a cross towards the Goa box. Ideally Diamantakos would have the best player to take that down but Luna tries to control it with his head. He cannot do so and the ball goes out for a goalkick.
FC Goa sub: IN- Sanson OUT- Saviour
Saviour leaves the pitch on a stretcher- never a good sight to see.
It looks like it is the end of the night for Gama. It seemed like he would be okay to continue but that is not the case.
Saviour Gama might have pulled a muscle while trying to retrieve the ball. However, it is not serious and he should be okay to continue.
Diamantakos tries to find Sahal by flashing a cross across the face of goal but Dheeraj anticipates the flight of the ball and makes the save in time to take the ball away from Sahal’s path.
A sloppy piece of defending by Nishu allows Noah to pounce on the ball and make his way into the box. He cuts in and tries to find the net but he takes too much time as the ball is snatched from him. He goes down and wants a penalty but referee waves play on.
Save: Noah escapes his marker and finds Vazquez with a great cut-back. Vazquez shoots at goal with a first-time effort but Gill gets down to make the save.
Save: Sahal cuts in and lashes a shot at goal but Dheeraj sends it out for a corner with a solid pair of hands. The angle was not the easiest.
Guarrotxena goes for goal with a curler from the edge of the box. Gill cannot get to it but the effort is not on target as well.
Bedia’s cross from a Goa freekick finds Guarrotxena’s head. The latter tried to guide his effort towards goal but could not.
FC Goa trying to slow things down in the opening minutes of the match. It is Kerala Blasters doing all the pressing.
The ISL match between Kerala Blasters and FC Goa is underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi.
Head-to-Head record
Kerala Blasters and FC Goa have played each other 16 times. Kerala Blasters has won three of those outings, while FC Goa emerged victorious nine times. The sides shared points on four occasions.
Match Preview
Coming back as it did after three straight losses, the Kerala Blasters’ win over the lowly NorthEast United in the last game is certainly a morale-booster, but the Kochi boys could face the harsh realities of the Indian Super League when they play a confident FC Goa at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
The Blasters are on the seventh rung with six points from five games in the 11-team table while Goa is on the third with nine points having won three of its four matches. But the stat that should worry Blasters more is that they have conceded 10 goals while Goa has let in just two.
“We are facing one of the league’s best teams, a team which always likes to keep possession, likes to be tough in duels, it will be an interesting team to play,” said Ivan Vukomanovic, the Blasters head coach on Saturday.
“Our games are always interesting because they can go both ways. We are a team that wants to attack, wants to press high, we want to have a certain style. The match will be more of a character game where both teams will have to control their emotions in certain moments of the game. The team that keeps these emotions under control will win this game.”
Meanwhile, Goa head coach Carlos Pena feels playing the Blasters will not be easy.
“We’re going to play with full confidence but the match is going to be the toughest of all we have played till now,” he said.
