Asif OM, a late entrant into Kerala's Santosh Trophy squad, turned out to be their hero in the opening Group A fixture against Goa in the final round of Santosh Trophy National Football Championship at Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Asif struck in injury-time to seal the defending champions’ pulsating 3-2 win over their rivals.
Asif, who was part of Kerala's reserve squad, was a last-minute addition to their main squad for the final round. He was included in the team as a replacement for Viknesh, who was dropped after failing a dope test conducted by NADA.
Kerala, having taken the lead courtesy of a Nijo Gilbert penalty (27), proceeded to score a second in the 57th with Riswanali Edakkavil tapping in from close range off a corner. The defending champions looked in control when suddenly disaster struck.
But the match took a turn in the space of 13 minutes in the second half.
Goa pulled one goal back in the 60th minute via a Mahammed Faheez penalty, and suddenly the momentum shifted. Faheez added a second in the 73rd minute to draw them level and a massive upset looked on the cards.
Both sides missed a flurry of chances in the final ten minutes before Asif tapped in the winner in the first minute of added-on time to ensure the defending champions started with a win.
In other Group A matches, Maharashtra were held to a 1-1 draw by hosts Odisha while Karnataka made a late comeback to snatch a 2-2 draw against Punjab. Currently, Kerala top the Group A tables with three points.
