KOCHI: In what was a game of two halves, Kerala Blasters played out a 1-1 draw with FC Goa in their Indian Super League encounter at the GMC Stadium, Bambolim on Saturday. A first half strike from Jorge Mendoza was cancelled out by a Rahul KP header in the second as the two teams split the points.
The Gaurs finished with ten men as their defender Ivan Gonzalez was sent off mid-way through the second half as they finished with ten men. The result helps Goa retain third position in the table while Blasters lie seventh.
Blasters came into the game full of confidence after their last-gasp victory against Bengaluru FC which breathed new life into their campaign.
However, Goa were always going to be a different proposition because, unlike Bengaluru, they are a team in form and unbeaten in the last five matches prior their assignment against the Kerala outfit.
At the start of the game, Blasters' game plan was evident. They decided to sit back and defend against Goa instead of trying to play possession football. After a minor scare for the Gaurs which saw their goalkeeper Naveen Kumar almost gifting an opportunity to Blasters striker Gary Hooper in the fifth minute, it was one way traffic. Naveen failed to clear a back pass cleanly while coming out of his penalty area and had Hooper been more alert, they could have taken the lead. Just a few minutes later, Mendoza almost scored at the other end when a quick interchange of passes saw the forward clear on goal and his thundering attempt hit the post and stayed out.
It was all Goa from there on and they broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with Mendoza catching the entire Kerala defence out with his free-kick. They won a set-piece on the right flank and the Spaniard whipped the ball in trying to pick a team-mate out. The ball hit the wall and wrong-footed keeper Albino Gomes who saw it sail over his head and into the net. Goa enjoyed the bulk of possession but they couldn't break Kerala down again in the first half.
Blasters were rewarded for keeping the deficit down to just one and they got back into the game from a corner in the 57th minute. Facundo Pereyra whipped in the corner and Rahul rose highest to head it in to bring them back into the game.
Goa suffered a setback when their defender Ivan Gonzalez got his marching orders for picking up a second yellow card in the 65th minute. Blasters had a few opportunities to capitalize on their numerical advantage with Hooper enjoying the best opportunities. The Englishman looked short on confidence as he chose not to test the goalkeeper on two promising occasions when he had a sight of goal and Jordan Murray's absence was evident. As for Goa, they managed to stretch their unbeaten run to six.