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FC Goa returned to the summit of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) table and subsequently booked their safe passage into the playoffs with a comfortable 3-0 win over Kerala Blasters at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa on Monday night.
The Gaurs started positively and established a two-goal advantage over the visitors within the space of three first half minutes to give them a healthy lead ahead of the interval.
Ferran Corominas broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute by netting his 14th goal of the season, when he leaped into the air and guided Brandon Fernandes' cross into the back of the net with a clean header.
And Kerala conceded their second goal in the 25th minute when Edu Bedia took full advantage of a series of unfortunate errors involving Anas Edathodika and Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
Sergio Lobera's men were in cruise control and continued to hold the upper hand even after slowing down a bit in the early stages of the second half. However, the Blasters were unable to force the initiative and eventually succumbed to defeat when Hugo Boumous came off the bench to complete the rout and seal maximum points for Goa in the 78th minute.
Goa will next face Bengaluru FC away from home on Thursday before playing their final game of the league stage against Chennaiyin FC next week, while Kerala Blasters end their disastrous campaign at home to North East United on 1st March.
Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the major talking points from the largely one-sided affair under the lights at the Fatorda Stadium:
#1 Luck certainly favours the brave
FC Goa made it look all too easy in the end with their swift and free-flowing football that has earned the plaudits so far this season. However, they would feel lucky to have not conceded against the run of play, just before they hit the visitors with two goals within the space of three minutes.
Slavisa Stojanovic had initiated a neat exchange with Matej Poplatnik before swiftly running through on goal and finding the back of the net only for the linesman to flag him offside. It felt like the official got the decision spot on and the players did not beg to differ, but the replays suggested that was not exactly the case.
Courage Pekuson was the player in an offside position when Stojanovic netted the wrongly disallowed goal and the Ghanaian was not interfering with play to be flagged either. However, the linesman made a hash of the decision and prevented the visitors from taking the lead.
Just a few seconds after the resulting spot kick, Goa edged ahead through Coro before Edu Bedia capped off a stellar three-minute spell that saw them effectively put the game to bed. The Blasters would look back at lady luck and think about what could have been, but were they brave enough to begin with? Certainly not as much as Goa!
#2 Lackadaisical defending expose Kerala Blasters yet again
The last time Anas Edathodika lined up alongside Sandesh Jhingan in a back four for Kerala Blasters away from home, they were 3-0 down within the half hour mark and ended up conceding six goals against Mumbai City FC.
That performance was marred by silly defensive errors and although FC Goa refrained from emptying their cylinders in search of more goals on Friday, the glaring deficiencies at the back stood out for the Blasters.
The visitors were visibly struggling on the left side of defence with Jackichand Singh getting in behind Lalruatthara twice and going close to netting a goal, only for him to be denied by the frame of the woodwork early on. And as the game progressed, Nelo Vingada's men shot themselves in the foot with more shoddy defending.
Coro was left completely unmarked between Jhingan and Anas for the opening goal while Edu Bedia doubled the lead following a mix up between Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem and Anas, that stemmed from the latter's poor back pass to the young goalkeeper.
And yet again, the Men in Yellow ended up paying the ultimate price for switching off in defence.
#3 Ahmed Jahouh - The undisputed Lord of the Pings
It is hard to ignore the impact Ahmed Jahouh has made during his time in the Indian Super League under Sergio Lobera. The midfielder was one of three players, including Mourtada Fall and Hugo Boumous, that worked previously with Lobera during his stint with Moghreb Tetouan in Morocco and could be one of the first names on the team sheet for FC Goa.
The Moroccan has mastered the art of finding his team-mates from deep within his own half and caused all kinds of problems to the Kerala defence with his ball-pinging abilities throughout the game. Jahouh dominated the middle of the park with his towering presence and was rightfully adjudged as the 'Hero of the match' for a complete performance on the night.
Despite the presence of flashy attackers in Coro and Edu Bedia on the books at FC Goa, Jahouh has still managed to become a central figure due to his incisive ability to ping the ball forward with undisputed accuracy to feed the players in front of him.
And his ability to drop deep and almost play as a third centre-back while screening the defence adds steel to the Gaurs' rearguard while also helping them build from the back.
During the win over the Blasters, Jahouh did everything from sending 40-yard passes from within his own half to breaking down play and recycling possession efficiently to cap off a memorable display.
#4 Blasters should already be making decisive choices for next season
It's been quite an eventful season for all the wrong reasons in the football-loving state of Kerala this term. The Blasters have seen their attendance figures drop to almost a tenth of what it used to be in the wake of their catastrophic start to the season, that saw them go on a 14-game winless run which came to an end last week.
Despite venturing out into a point of no return by the turn of the year, there is still a lot of key decisions left to be made that could make the Kochi-based franchise a force to reckon with next season. It must start with making a decision on Nelo Vingada's future as head coach at the club.
Whether or not he gets to retain his role at the end of the season, it must not be ignored that he has offered a breath of fresh air since taking up this daunting job against all odds in January. The Portuguese had to work with a recruitment policy adopted by his predecessor and could possibly do better with the right amount of backing.
Furthermore, the rise to prominence of several youngsters over the course of the season is undoubtedly an encouraging sign for a club that is crying out for a new identity. And if the decision-makers at the club can produce the right ideas, there might still be plenty of light at the end of the tunnel.
#5 Sergio Lobera seems to have struck the perfect chord
Sergio Lobera has taken the Indian Super League by storm ever since arriving on the shores of Goa at the beginning of the season. The Spaniard believes that attack is the best form of defence and was more than happy at outscoring teams without being too stubborn on not letting the opponents score.
Fair enough, most teams work at their optimum level when they play to their strengths and FC Goa are no different. However, Lobera seems to have finally unlocked the perfect chord that could make them champions for the first time ever this season.
The Gaurs have now kept five clean sheets in a row after their win over Kerala Blasters and equalled a record held by Mumbai City FC dating back to 2015 for the longest run in the division without conceding a goal.
There is a popular saying that goes like, 'Goals win you games of football, but a resilient defence lets you win titles' and FC Goa, barring any major upset, could benefit from their rejuvenated strength at the back to go one better than their semi-final exit last season and finally end their wait to lift the trophy this term.
