Last Update: January 08, 2023, 23:21 IST
Gokulam Kerala beat Churchill Brothers 1-0 thanks to Sergio Mendigutxia’s strike (IANS)
Debutant Sergio Mendigutxia scored the decisive goal in the second half to give defending champions Gokulam Kerala a hard-fought victory over the Goans.
Gokulam Kerala got their year off to a perfect start, registering a 1-0 win over Churchill Brothers in their I-League 2022-23 match at the Payyanad Stadium on Sunday.
In a game where Churchill Brothers had the attacking edge against Gokulam Kerala, it was a defensive line led by captain Amino Buba that helped the hosts keep their hat-trick hopes alive as debutant Sergio Mendigutxia scored in the second half. Scored the decisive goal.
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The two teams went close in the opening minutes of the game with Churchill’s Spanish wizard Tana scoring a cross from Lamgoulen Hangxing in the fourth minute. However, the Spaniard skidded his shot. Two minutes later, Gokulam’s Naufal crossed it to Sergio Mendigutxia, who fired it wide.
As the game progressed, the goalkeepers at both ends saw almost no activity. Gokulam number one Bilal Khan was called into action just once. Early in the game, a misplaced cross from Lalavampuia Selo almost went into the goal, but Bilal cleared the ball safely over the crossbar.
Naufal, a live wire in attack for the hosts, made several dangerous runs down the right, beating his markers with his quick dribble. However, he was pointless in the final third.
After enjoying the attacking edge for the majority of the first half, the visitors lost control of proceedings and were almost on the verge of half-time when their custodian Albino Gomes netted a headed effort from Mendy following a corner. Vital reflex saved. ,
Five minutes into the second period, Gomes was again called into action. On this occasion, the goalkeeper made a simple save, comfortably collecting the ball after a shot from outside the box by Gokulam’s Rahul Raju.
As the score remained deadlocked, both club coaches looked to the bench for new legs. Within minutes of coming onto the pitch, Churchill substitute Chaitan Komarpant almost scored the first goal. He fired a powerful shot from 30 yards, but his strike was met by Bilal Khan, who saved the shot at the cost of a corner.
Ten minutes later, Mendigutxia broke the deadlock. In a quick break, Gokulam’s Farshad Noor passed the ball to the Spanish striker, who connected with Sreekuttan VS before entering the box and taking the ball past the goalkeeper.
Thereafter, the Gokulam defence, stood strong to see out the game in the final minutes. Sharif Muhammed had an opportunity to equalize for the visitors with a free-kick in extra time, but the Afghan put too much power into his free-kick, which went over, as the visitors left the Payyanad Stadium empty-handed.
Following the result, Gokulam Kerala climbed to the third spot in the table above Real Kashmir and four points behind leader Srinidi Deccan.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)