Ferran Corominas lit up the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday night with a lovely brace as FC Goa, the table-topper, defeated Kerala Blasters 3-1 to hand the home side its second successive loss in Kochi.
Corominas' twin strikes took his tally to eight goals, making him the highest goal-scorer in this edition of the Indian Super League.
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The Spaniard's opening goal came off a corner in the 11th minute. ’s Mourtada Fall rose to meet Edu Bedia’s rising kick but failed to connect and the ball moved to Ahmed Jahouh near the top of the box. Corominas received the Moroccan’s cross nicely and smartly headed it into the left corner past a diving Blasters goalkeeper Naveen Kumar.
While the Kerala Blasters used the flanks well, with defender Lalruatthara frequently moving up through the left, FC Goa mainly advanced through the centre. One such move brought Corominas' second goal.
After a darting through the centre, the Spaniard weaved his way past the Kerala defence and fired a curling shot into the right corner of the net to double his side's lead at the stroke of half-time.
Corominas nearly sealed a hat-trick shortly after the hour mark but Naveen made two consecutive saves to deny the Spaniard.
However, it didn't take long for FC Goa to further extend its lead. Substitute Manvir Singh rose to the occasion as he coolly headed in Brandon Fernandes' corner in the 67th minute to make it 3-0.
CK Vineeth’s arrival late in the second half raised the home team's hopes and he had a fine chance in the goalmouth but Goa goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz produced a fine save to block his attempt.
The Blasters finished with a consolation goal as Serbian Nikola Krcmarevic tapped in Sandesh Jhingan’s cross in stoppage time.
The result sees FC Goa extend its lead to 16 points from seven games while Kerala Blasters is on the seventh spot with seven points from as many matches.
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