Sergio Mendigutxia once FC again made the difference for Gokulam Kerala FC as he netted the winner in defending champions’ 1-0 win over Kenkre FC at the EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode on Sunday. The Spaniard’s goal came in the 21st minute. The victory took Gokulam to third spot in the I-League table with 24 points from 13 games.
One of Vikas’ innumerable overlaps in the right-wing ended with a beautiful floated cross to the far post. Sergio snuck in to head it into the far corner of the net.
The ease and frequency with which Vikas and Sreekuttan were making the Kenkre midfield redundant and feeding their striker in the opening half was astounding. Gokulam coach Francesc Bonet would have been justified to expect that they would breeze through the game.
A chance to make it 2-0 went begging as Sergio missed an open header just before the halftime whistle.
After a complete first-half dominance by Gokulam, Kenkre’s first shot at the goal came in the 47th minute from Pandre. The second attempt came just three minutes later and in the 52nd minute, Ouattara dribbled into the Gokulam box from the right and centred for Pandre. But with his back to the goal and the towering Bouba Aminou close by, Pandre could not do anything.
Persistent pressure did not earn Kenkre the equalizer but forced a nasty foul from Rahul Raju on Pandre as Kenkre were going on a counter-attack, earned him a yellow card. A couple of minutes later, Raju received his second yellow which reduced Gokulam to 10 men.
Gokulam predictably went on the defensive and Kenkre pressed forward. Their Nepalese midfielder Anjan Bista tried a diving header in front of the goal off a Papuia chip in the 60th minute but could not keep it on target.
