ISL: FC Goa register 3-1 win over Kerala Blasters, surge to fifth place

FC Goa got some respite in the playoff race after registering a convincing 31 win and clinching crucial three points against Kerala Blasters in an Indian Super League ISL 202223 match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on SundayGoals from Iker Guarrotxena Noah Sadaoui and Redeem Tlang helped the Gaurs end their fourgame winless run in the ISL as they leapfrogged Odisha FC to fifth and went four points clear of Bengaluru FC in seventh Meanwhile the Blasters suffered backtoback defeats in the ISL for the first time since OctoberDevendra Murgaonkar made his first start of the season replacing Tlang in the XI For the visitors Harmanjot Khabra and Jessel Carneiro dropped to the bench with Nishu Kumar and Sandeep Singh replacing the two fullbacks Saurav Mandal replaced the suspended Rahul KP on the right flankIn the opening halfhour Kerala Blasters were unable to test the keeper while their own shotstopper Prabhsukhan Gill was forced into making a solitary save Moments after the halfhour mark Brandon Fernandes won a penalty after contact with Saurav Mandal in the boxGuarrotxena went straight down the middle to score from the spot kick for his seventh goal of the season The goal put the hosts in front and was also the 150th Hero ISL goal scored by FC Goa at the Fatorda StadiumAlso readISL Bartholomew Ogbeche hattrick leads Hyderabad FC to 31 win over FC GoaTen minutes from the break Gill came sprinting out of his penalty area to get to the ball first but Sadaoui flicked it past him before seeing his shot blocked by Ruivah Hormipam The Moroccan did get his goal just three minutes later when he pounced on a poor Sandeep Singh pass beat Hormipam and opened up his body to slot it past Gill to double the hosts advantageHaving gone multiple goals down in the first half for the second consecutive game Kerala Blasters came out with purpose and Dimitrios Diamantakos was the man to get on the sheet in the 51st minute Adrian Luna was the creator whipping in a free kick from the left flank that saw the Greek striker nod the ball in from close rangeBut FC Goa created the decisive touch to deflate the Blasters in the 69th minute On the counter Brandon held the ball as Sadaoui made a dummy run to draw the defenders away opening up space for Tlang on the right flank The substitute paced into the box and drove it past Gill to breach his far postTen minutes later a crucial goalline clearance from Sanson Pereira denied Nihal Sudeesh his first goal for the club and kept the twogoal advantage intact Eight minutes were added on at the end of regulation time during which the Blasters probed forward but failed to create anything substantial as they suffered a second successive defeatFollowing a few weeks of seesawing between Odisha FC and FC Goa the Gaurs finally managed to get back in fifth place They will hope to extend this advantage when they host East Bengal FC on January 26On the other hand Kerala Blasters remain in third place ten points behind Hyderabad FC and just one ahead of ATK Mohun Bagan in fourth They will host NorthEast United FC next on January 29This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever