KOCHI: Excitement, hope and celebration were back on the faces of Kerala Blasters fans when their favourites saw off the confident Goa FC (3-1) in their fourth home match of the Indian Super League at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium on Sunday.
Though the match kicked off on a dull note, the stadium started witnessing the reverberating roars of the fans when Adrian Luna tapped in the first goal in the 42nd minute. The fans’ excitement doubled when Dimitrios Diamantakos netted a goal through a penalty shot nearly three minutes after the first goal.
However, the fans were thrilled when Ivan Kaliuzhnyi unleashed a power-packed goal at least 30 yards away from the post.”This is what we wanted from our team. Though they conceded one goal, the victory is a treat for us. As a Blasters’ fan, it is a proud moment for us,” said Shyam Sreedhar, who came all the way from Kottayam to witness the match.
Though the back-to-back losses in the home match resulted in a low turnout of spectators, the victory would bring more fans to the stadium in the coming matches. “While Rahul K P helped the team with his speed, Sahal Samad led the team with this splendid assist. Ivan Kaliuzhnyi once again proved he is the lead player of the team. Definitely, the team under Ivan Vukomanovic has improved a lot after the first few matches,” said Ashiq Muhammed, who came from Malappuram.
So far, Kerala Blasters and FC Goa have played each other 17 times and Blasters have won four of those outings, while FC Goa has emerged victorious nine times. The three points from the match lifted Kerala Blasters up into fifth place, level on points with FC Goa. The Blasters will look to capitalise on this momentum when they take on Hyderabad FC on November 19.