Indian Player Ratings: Jackichand Singh & Brandon Fernandes shine as Goa drub Kerala Blasters

With the win the Gaurs confirmed their qualification for the playoffs.

FC Goa secured qualifications for the playoffs with a 3-0 thumping of Kerala Blasters at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa on Monday. The Gaurs attained a 2-0 lead in the first half through Ferran Corominas and Edu Bedia, before Hugo Boumous sealed a dominant performance with an expertly taken goal.

 

 

 

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Watch: FC Goa 3-0 Kerala Blasters highlights

Here are the player ratings for the game:

FC Goa

Naveen Kumar- 6.0

Was mostly untested due to his side’s dominance, but held his resolve and looked alert in goal. Lucky not to concede when Matej Poplatnik’s goal was ruled out before Goa’s opener. Naveen was tested in the second half, making a stunning save off Sahal Abdul Samad’s blistering shot and preserving his side’s lead. Rightfully attained another clean-sheet after a dominant display.

Seriton Fernandes- 6.0

Seriton showed enough urgency to go forward and was encouraged by his team. He made some impressive forward moves and looked synergized with Jackichand Singh throughout.

Feranandes fulfilled his defensive work pretty well, not allowing Kerala to move through his side. Despite being quite untested, he maintained utmost concentration and helped his side to another clean-sheet.

Mandar Rao Dessai- 6.5

The wing-back gave another hard-working performance, not only dealing with Seiminlen Doungel’s threat, but also going forward at will. Mandar made three tackles and interceptions and his link-up with the Gaurs' attackers was promising, resulting in him recording 76% passing accuracy.

Mandar Rao Dessai got behind Kerala’s defence and forced a good save from Dheeraj in the second half. However, he kept a straight head in defending tightly, making five tackles and four clearances to keep things clean on his side.

Lenny Rodrigues- 7.0

Lenny continued his great work with Ahmed Jahouh in the midfield pivot, helping the Gaurs control the game and flinging the ball to precise areas throughout. Rodrigues again had an amazing passing accuracy of 89% from 74 passes.

He worked hard to regain possession time and again, making a few tackles to get back the ball and kick-start attacks for his side. He kept on showing impressive discipline in midfield and neutralized Kerala’s weak midfield quite easily.

Brandon Fernandes- 7.5

The left winger seemed extremely comfortable at home and not being pressed hard by Kerala played to his strengths. Brandon’s creativity was displayed throughout, as he made incisive passes to create space for his teammates. He recorded a clever assist when his inviting cross was nodded home by Corominas.

Brandon had a slight chance to score, but ended up being in too much of a tight angle from goal to do so. Even defensively, he was commendable, making four tackles and three blocks, while his set-pieces were as dangerous as ever.

Jackichand Singh- 7.5

A menacing figure in Goa’s attack throughout, Jackichand caused nightmares for his opposition with his movement and pace in the early stages. He was absolute frantic in the final third, going past Lalruatthara with ease and showing commendable bursts of pace.

Jackichand had a shot strike the bar and another go agonizingly wide. Continued his attacking vigour in the second half and kept on entertaining the fans, before being taken off after a hard-working performance.

Substituitions

Manvir Singh- NA

Came on with around nine minutes remaining and didn’t really get the opportunity to get into the goalscoring act.

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Kerala Blasters

Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem- 5.0

After a strong performance against Chennaiyin FC, Dheeraj got a reality check from Goa. He couldn’t really do much about Corominas’ strong header, but made a poor decision leading up to the second goal. His clearance fell right to the Goan striker who laid it off for Bedia to score easily.

He made a strong save of Rao Dessai’s lob in the second half, but couldn’t do much about Boumous’ strong shot, which rounded off a miserable evening for him.

Mohamed Rakip- 5.0

Rakip didn’t show enough aggression to stop Goa’s attack and wasn’t able to keep up with the mobile Brandon. Things weren’t made easy for him when Mandar often overlapped forward and Rakip couldn’t anticipate Brandon’s cross leading up to the goal properly.

He was pressed even more in the second half and despite five interceptions and four clearances, the right-back couldn’t do much to save his side’s sorrows.

Sandesh Jhingan- 5.0

While Jhingan was helpless to stop the two goals, he didn’t really act as a leader for the Blasters. He did stay close to Corominas and try to neutralize his threat as much as possible, but didn’t seem fully synched with Anas Edathodika. He did make four clearances and two crucial tackles, but didn’t rally his troops properly, causing Kerala to become nervous.

Jhingan picked up a yellow card in the second half, which summed up his frustrations and was later outmanoeuvred by Boumous for the third goal.

Anas Edathodika- 4.5

The experienced defender had a night to forget as he was tantalized by Goa’s pace and the movement of Corominas. Anas didn’t look entirely comfortable defending against the mobile Goan attackers and couldn’t cover Lalruatthara properly. He allowed Corominas to go past and outjump him for the opener, before his horrible back-pass led Dheeraj to make the mistake.

Edathodika looked on edge throughout the game and couldn’t do anything to stop the Gaurs from attacking, almost causing his side more problems in the second half.

Lalruatthara- 4.5

The young left-back had a harrowing experience against the electric Jackichand and just couldn’t handle the pacy winger. He was outwitted and outpaced by Jacki on more than one occasion and allowed him to weave past on multiple times. 

Lucky not to get sent off in the second half following a poor challenge on Bedia, after which he was quickly substituted.

Sahal Abdul Samad- 6.5

Probably the only Kerala player who showed urgency to win the game, Sahal was a bright figure on an otherwise gloomy night for Nelo Vingada’s side. He showed promising creativity in breaking open Goa’s midfield and sending balls to his strikers.

Abdul Samad also fulfilled his defensive duties well, making a few crucial tackles. Had a powerful shot saved well by Naveen Kumar in the second half, after showing impressive feet. Oddly substituted after the hour mark.

Seiminlen Doungel- 6.0

Doungel couldn’t really do much in attack, becoming isolated on the right wing and being frustrated by the lack of output. However, he did make some promising moves forward and was fouled for them. Despite his energetic act, the former NorthEast United man couldn’t produce the goods in another frustrating display in front of goal.

Substituitions

Prasanth K- 6.0

The tricky winger came on for Abdul Samad and apart from getting one chance where he almost slid past the Goa defenders, he couldn’t really do anything.

Pritam Singh- 6.0

While he was much better than the disastrous Lalruatthara, Pritam looked uneasy against the attacking threat of Goa. However, he did well to stop attacks from his side.

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Abdul Hakku- 5.5

Came on for Cyril Kali and showed impressive urgency. He did make a few commendable tackles as well as intercepting the ball multiple times, but picked up a yellow card for his extreme eagerness.