FC Goa became the second team to qualify for the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 semi-finals with an impressive 3-0 win over Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Monday. The victory also helped the Gaurs leapfrog Bengaluru FC to take up the top spot in the table.

Kerala, on the other hand, stayed ninth in the standings with 14 points from 17 matches.

  • Ferran Corominas scored his 14th goal of the season on the 22nd minute to give Goa the lead.
  • Edu Bedia doubled the Gaurs’ lead three minutes later.
  • Hugo Boumous came off the bench to make it 3-0 on the 78th minute.

Goa saw a lot of the ball in the opening exchanges and created a good opportunity on the 10th minute when Ahmed Jahouh found Jackichand Singh's clever run with a long pinged pass. Jacki's shot went narrowly wide of the goal.

The same Jahouh-Jackichand combination was at the thick of the yet again just minutes later. Jahouh found Jacki yet again with a long ball, creating a shooting opportunity for the winger. But this time, Jacki was denied by the upright.

Kerala made very few forays forward but managed to get the ball into the net when Slavisa Stojanovic seemed to have finished off a dazzling counter-attack. But the goal was ruled out for offside, much to the dissatisfaction of the Kerala players and fans.

Almost immediately at the other end, the Gaurs struck with Ferran Corominas. Brandon Fernandes steamed down the left byline and found Coro with a pin-point cross. The Spaniard made no mistakes and nodded it in to score his 14th of the season. Barely three minutes later, the Gaurs struck again and Coro had a huge part to play. The striker put Anas Edathodika under pressure, forcing the former India international to play a risky backpass to goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh. The youngster's attempted clearance fell straight to Coro. With Dheeraj well off his line, the Spaniard could have taken on his shot from a tight angle but decided to use the safer option and squared the ball for Edu Bedia to finish.

With two goals up after just 25 minutes, Goa were in total control of the match till half-time. The two teams went into the break with the home team 2-0 up.

With a mountain to climb in the final 45 minutes, Kerala were more adventurous after the restart. Sahal Abdul Samad, who scored his maiden Hero ISL goal in the last match against Chennaiyin in the last match, came close with a shot from outside of the box, but Naveen Kumar did well to tip the ball over the crossbar.

With Kerala pushing bodies forward, Coro got a golden opportunity to extend Goa's lead. Jahouh recovered the ball near his own box and sent Coro through with one of his trademark long balls. The Spaniard, however, delayed his shot a bit too much allowing Kerala players to get back and snuff out the attack.

On the 78th minute, however, Hugo Boumous, who came on for Jahouh five minutes earlier, made it 3-0 after a lovely solo run which saw him glide past a couple of Kerala defenders. Edu could have increased the margin even further in the dying minutes of the match, but his lob over Dheeraj’s head came out after hitting the crossbar. The Gaurs held on for the remainder of the match to ensure another dominating victory at home and their fifth clean sheet on a trot.

HERO OF THE MATCH – Ahmed Jahouh

Despite staying on the pitch for just over 70 minutes, the ace midfielder controlled the match masterfully from the midfield. His range of passing and composure on the ball let his teammates operate freely around him and the incredible performance saw him bag today’s Hero of the Match award.

CLUB AWARDS

Club Award – FC Goa

Swift Limitless Player of the Match – Ferran Corominas

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Brandon Fernandes

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Mohamad Rakip

Hero of the Match – Ahmed Jahouh

WHAT’S NEXT?

Goa will play their penultimate fixture in the league stages of Hero ISL 2018-19 against Bengaluru FC on February 21, while Kerala’s last match of the campaign will be against NorthEast United FC at Guwahati on March 1.

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Related tags:

Kerala Blasters FCFC Goa 2018-2019Match Report