FC Goa reached the Hero Indian Super League 2015 semi-finals after beating Kerala Blasters FC 5-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. Goa started on the back foot after falling behind under two minutes to a Victor Pulga strike. However, the Gaurs responded brilliantly courtesy of a Reinaldo hat-trick and strikes from Joffre and Mandar Rao Dessai to claim three points which took them into the semis. The game also saw Josu receiving his marching orders at the stroke of half-time, thereby reducing Kerala to 10 men for the entire second half.The visitors were in for a big surprise with FC Goa falling behind inside two minutes. Antonio German put in an inch-perfect cross from the by-line which Pulga converted without hesitation to put Kerala 1-0 up, much to the delight of the home faithful.FC Goa, however, were not about to lie down and allow the Blasters to dictate terms to them. They responded 10 minutes later when Reinaldo laid off a cross perfectly for Joffre to breeze past the Kerala backline and send his shot beyond Kerala keeper Stephen Bywater to make it 1-1.The Gaurs then took the lead through Reinaldo in the 29th minute after another brilliant attacking move. Leo Moura played in his fellow Brazilian who calmly touched the ball past Bywater for Goa’s second of the night and his fifth of the season.Kerala did up their game after falling behind with German looking the liveliest amongst the men in yellow. Goa’s backline though, led by skipper Lucio and Gregory Arnolin held firm to keep the score at 2-1. The first half ended on a bit of a sour note as Kerala were reduced to 10 men after Josu was sent off by the referee for an altercation with Joffre.Goa exploited their man advantage and put the game beyond the hosts five minutes into the second period when Dessai provided a low cross across the face of the goal for Reinaldo to tap in his side’s third goal of the night.The robust Brazilian got his hat-trick near the hour mark after yet another fluid Goan attack. Joffre played the ball into space for CS Sabeeth to centre into the box as Reinaldo pounced on his cross and made it 4-1 for the Gaurs. Reinaldo became the third player from FC Goa to score a hat-trick this season with the strike.Dessai then decided to get his name on the score-sheet after Moura found him with space to run into on Goa’s left. The 23-year-old made no mistake as he shot first time to make it 5-1 in favour of the visitors. Kerala, to their credit, did try to get forward in attack despite being a man down but efforts from Pulga, Ishfaq Ahmed and Peter Ramage were all safely dealt with by FC Goa’s defence.The Gaurs kept possession of the ball for the remainder of the game and launched multiple waves of attack as the match approached full-time. Dessai’s strike, however, proved to be the last goal of the game. The Gaurs became the third team to reach the semis after Atlético de Kolkata and Delhi Dynamos FC while Kerala’s remote hopes went up in smoke following their seventh defeat this season.Club Award – FC GoaDHL Winning Pass (Kerala Blasters FC) – Josu Currias Swift Moment of the Match – Joffre (FC Goa) (Watch here)Hero of the Match – Reinaldo (FC Goa) (Watch here)ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Mandar Rao Dessai (FC Goa) (Watch here)Amul Fittest Player of the Match – Antonio German (Kerala Blasters FC)
