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Kerala Blasters secured their third victory of the 2022/23 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign with a 3-1 victory over FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday, November 13.
Ivan Kalyuznhnyi joined the party in the second half after Adrian Luna and Dimitrios Diamantakos scored two first-half goals in a span of four minutes. Noah Sadaoui's header proved to be a consolation goal for Carlos Pena's men.
Both sides came close to scoring in the opening minutes. The visitors' attacking midfielder Iker Guarrotxena latched on to a tame clearance to strike the ball ferociously. Sahal forced a flying save off Dheeraj in a bid to open the deadlock in the blink of an eye. It was then followed by yet another attacking move that saw Prabhsukhan Gill go down to keep out a strong effort from Alvaro Vazquez.
However, the opening goal came three minutes before the half-time interval. Skipper Luna tapped the ball in after a scuffed shot from Sahal. Diamantakos was brought down by Anwar Ali a minute before half-time. The Kerala Blasters' No.9 calmly slotted the ball past Dheeraj from the spot to double the lead.
Kerala Blasters jump to fifth spot in ISL 2022-23
The roof came off at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium when the Ukrainian midfielder Ivan Kalyuznhnyi thundered the ball in from 30 yards out to send the crowd into raptures in the 52nd minute.
Spaniard Iker Guarrotxena was at the end of another chance when he was one-on-one with the Kerala Blasters goalkeeper only for the Manjapadda shot-stopper to deny the ball from going in with a strong save.
The visitors pulled a goal back when Noah Sadaoui's header found the back of the net after a delicious cross from Seriton Fernandes. Luna failed to keep his header down as the game ended 3-1 in favor of the hosts.
Ivan Vukomanovic's side are currently tied on points with FC Goa, who are on nine points from five games.
Kerala will make a short trip to Hyderabad FC to face the league toppers on November 19, while Goa will invite ATK Mohun Bagan to Fatorda Stadium a week later.
