I-League 2017-18 MATCH REPORT -- Arrows deliver major setback to Gokulam at home
Indian Arrows continue their intriguing journey in the Hero I-League 2017-18 and having staged a perfect revenge on the debutants Gokulam Kerala FC at their home, Matos’ boys reached the double figure mark on the points tally.
Abhijit Sarkar (77′) who scored his first goal in the Hero I-League on his birthday against Neroca FC, calmly slotted the only goal to conquer the team from the southernmost state of India.
Matos went back to his trusted guys Boris Singh, Anwar Ali in the defence along with Sanjeev Stalin. local boy Rahul KP was also handed a start by the gaffer.
Arrows took only two minutes to settle down as Aniket bombed one from inside the box which just flew over the crossbar. Both teams were steaming in their pursuit of some much-needed points but the defenders were carrying out a pristine job to cancel the attackers out.
Arrows defenders, especially Boris did a tremendous job to tame Odafa Okolie and the Nigerian ace striker couldn’t find any breathing space to make a positive impact in the match.
Salah and Kivi tried to outwit the resilient youngsters from the flanks but eventually, that trick couldn’t earn many dividends for Bino George’s boys.
Seconds after the changeover, Rahim Ali came very close to scoring the opening goal of the match but Bilal Khan jumped at the right time to get hold of the cross flown by Rahul.
On the hour-mark, finally, Bino George replaced the off-colour Odafa Okolie introducing Alajmi.
The deadlock was finally broken by the young lad Abhijit Sarkar in the 77th minute to send the away team dugout into a delirium. Rahul had a whizzing run down the left flank who tried his luck only for Bilal to palm it away to Sarkar who did his job with a calm head to put the Arrows in lead.
Although Suresh replaced the eventual ‘Hero of the Match’ three minutes to the end of the regulation time, the job was done until then.
The hosts earned three successive corners in the dying minutes but Prabhsukhan Gill, who was successful to pull off his maiden clean sheet in the ongoing Hero I-League 2017-18 tonight, calmly handed the situation to avert all dangers.
Indian Arrows have amassed 10 points from as many matches whereas the Keralite side are six points shy having played two matches fewer.
Bino George will surely look to reboot the system quickly before they face Churchill brother FC Goa in three days. Indian Arrows will now head to Goa to host high-flying Neroca FC on January 16, 2018.
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