Gokulam Kerala finish top of I-league Phase 1, Sudeva edge Kenkre

The defending are now undefeated for 17 games, equalling the record for the longest winning streak in the competition.

A narrow 1-0 victory for Sudeva Delhi FC lifted their spirits on the final matchday of I-League Phase 1 against Kenkre FC, here at the Naihati Stadium. A deflected goal scored by Shubho Paul in the first half was enough to get three crucial points for Sudeva.

The match got off to a fiesty start as Kenkre midfielder Kiran Pandhare unintentionally put an arm in the face of Sudeva’s Nishchal Chandan, busting his nose open in the process. After the restart, Sudeva were the first to prowl forward with an attack that was put out for a corner by B. Nongkhlow.

In response to the early attack, Pandhare won the ball in midfield with a strong but clean challenge. The midfielder played a pass through to striker Ranjeet Pandre, who had to settle only for a corner. During this spell, Kenkre won three corners in a row but failed to convert any of them as Sudeva dealt with them well.

Kenkre were presented with another opportunity on a plate when Sudeva keeper Sachin Jha passed the ball straight to Kenkre midfielder Vijay Nagappan, who played a simple pass to Siddharth Colaco on the edge of the box. Colaco could have picked out a teammate but chose to shoot himself and blasted it into the stands behind the goal.

Nagappan popped up on the left flank in the final third again, this time crossing the ball in across the face of the goal. The cross was inch perfect but it was intercepted by Nishchal Chandan, who was at full stretch to take the ball away from Ranjeet Pandre, who was right behind him with an intention of simply tapping the ball in from three yards out.

Sudeva drew first blood as the ball fell to Shubho Paul inside the box and the youngster struck it firmly and saw it ripple the back of the net after picking up a slight deflection off Nongkhlow in the thirteenth minute of the I-League encounter.

Minutes later, Kenkre had an opportunity to draw level. A long ball went over the defence and fell to strikers Ranjeet Pandre and Akeraj Martins. There was a bit of confusion and the shot was brilliantly saved by Sachin Jha. Kenkre had to settle for a corner again and yet again they could not make the most of it.

At the other end, Kenkre keeper Padam Chettri was alert at his near post to deny Vanlalzuidika’s effort after the full-back darted down the right flank, cut back and unleashed a good strike towards the near post. Opportunities fell to both sides towards the end of the first half but the scoreline did not change at half time of the I-League encounter.

Minutes into the second half, a tussle broke out off the ball after Shubho Paul was taken down by Zacharie Mbenda and no foul was given. Kiran Pandhare and Sairuatkima were involved in the tussle and had their names taken by the referee.

The incident changed the entire mood of the game. Kenkre’s substitute Aravindraj Rajan was booked for a reckless challenge on Zuidika. Abhijit Sarkar went down inside the Kenkre box and wanted a penalty but the challenge by Mbenda was clean. Sudeva’s substitute Sukhandeep Singh was also booked for a careless tackle on Ranjeet Pandre just 5 minutes after coming on.

Opportunities fell to Kenkre in the second half as they looked for an equaliser. Nagappan’s first touch let him down at the crucial moment. Pandhare’s decent header bounced off the crossbar and Pandre’s effort from close range was saved by Jha.

At one point, Jha was beaten as Pandhare played Nagappan in for a goal but the Sudeva defence stood tall to deny a goal. In the dying minutes of the game, substitute Pravitto Raju headed the ball into the net only to see the offside flag go up against him. Eventually, Sudeva managed to hold on to the narrow 1-0 lead and emerge victorious on the last matchday of Phase 1.

The victory lifts Sudeva to eleventh in the table, a point clear of Indian Arrows. Kenkre, on the other hand, have finished Phase 1 with no wins and two draws, keeping them at the bottom of the pile in the I-League.

Gokulam Kerala trounce Roundglass Punjab

Gokulam Kerala FC equalled the longest unbeaten streak of 17 games in the Hero I-League to end Phase-1 on top of the table by easing past RoundGlass Punjab FC 3-1, here at the Kalyani Stadium.

In equalling Churchill Brothers’ record set 12 years ago, Gokulam Kerala FC had Aminou Bouba’s pinpoint header, Luca Majcen’s clean finish and an own goal by Joseph Yarney help them swell their points to 30. RoundGlass Punjab had their consolation come off an own goal scored by Aminou to remain in third position with 23 points after their third loss.

Both teams approached this game on an aggressive note. RoundGlass Punjab did the early running from the left. Travis Major, pushing himself deep, had a timely and bold tackle by Gokulam Kerala defender Mohammed Jasim to clear the ball for a corner-kick.

It did not take much time for Gokulum Kerala to make their presence felt with an attempt on goal. Jithin MS found himself on the top of the box and with a clear look on goal only to have his attempt go over.

RoundGlass Punjab at the other end had Major try from the left to test goalkeeper Rakshit Dagar with a maximum stretch to keep the ball out at the second post.

Ten minutes into the game and the best chance fell to Gokulam Kerala as Muhammad Uvais, from the left, switched the width of the ground to find Emil Benny inside the box and in the clear and the later controlled the ball and had a go only to have the try get cleared off the goal line.

Luck once again deserted Gokulam as they were denied by yet another goal line save. This time Jourdain Ronaldo Fletcher’s effort was cleared off the line for a corner kick.

The resultant corner kick gave the breakthrough for the Kerala side. Defender Aminou Bouba rose high over a couple of defenders to connect his header past Jaspreet Singh resulting in Gokulam Kerala FC taking the lead in the I-League encounter.

Gokulam Kerala pushed forward with counter-attacks which unsettled the opponents. Luka Majcen on one occasion weaved through the defence and proved to be a handfull for RoundGlass Punjab, which ended up in Freddy Lallawmawma tackle him in a desperate attempt and earn the first yellow card of the match.

Punjab, who occupied the midfield for most of the session thereafter had a few half attempts come by. Kurtis Guthrie, meanwhile, had his cross from the left dangerously floated into the Gokulam box, however goalscorer Aminou Bouba used his height to brilliantly head away.

Punjab opened the second half with two back-to-back attempts by Guthrie. First, Major pushed deep into the box and chipped for Guthrie who ended up missing from close range. Almost immediately, Guthrie was left furious when his effort was cleared by the defenders once again resulting in a corner kick.

RoundGlass Punjab profited from the corner kick and levelled scores, earning an own goal as Bouba Aminou, missing sight and direction, ended up heading into his own goal off a Kean Lewis corner kick to make it 1-1.

Against the run of play, Gokulam Kerala from a counter-attack took the lead. Fletcher, gaining the ball from Freddy, powered on with an opportunity he did not want to let go. Keeping possession all through in the one-to-one run, he gently switched to Majcen who drove past Jaspreet Singh for his 13th goal of the season to make it 2-1 for Gokulam Kerala.

Gokulam Kerala doubled the advantage in the I-League encounter through an own goal to make it 3-1. A free kick earned on the right, had Bouba, at the second post rise and connect. The attempt was good enough to create confusion in a melee that ensued. What resulted thereafter was defender Joseph Yarney slicing the ball home leaving goalkeeper Jaspreet no chance.

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