Gokulam Kerala defeated Kerala Blasters 4-3 to win the first-ever national-level Kerala derby at the Mohun Bagan ground in Kolkata on Sunday.
Bouba Aminou, Abhijith, Alejandro Sanchez Lopez scored along with an own goal from Noacha Singh helped the Malabarians pip the Manjappada in the Group C game of the 132nd Durand Cup.
The game started at breakneck speed with quick passing from the Blasters being countered with high pressing by Gokulam.
By the 10th minute, challenges were flying with neither team allowing the other an extra second on the ball.
In the 16th minute, Basit Ahmed Bhat took a chance from some distance but his effort was tipped over by the keeper. From the resulting corner, Bouba Aminou climbed the tallest from the melee in the box to head the Malabarians ahead in the 17th minute.
The Blasters were desperate for an equaliser.
In the 24th minute, Pritam Kotal tried to match Aminou but his effort struck the bar.
Four minutes later, Adrian Luna got a golden chance when he found the ball being sent in from the right flank, with the keeper to beat. The star mid-fielder though scuffed his connection as the ball ended up being easy for the keeper.
With the handful of Manjapada faithful cheering them on from the stands, the Blasters finally found their goal. In the 35th minute, Luna’s free-kick from about 30 yards was punched it and in the ensuing confusion, Justine Emmanuel slotted it home from goalmouth.
The Malabarians did not sit back and wrestled back the lead with a stunning goal in the 35th minute. Sreekuttan finished off a fast break and a clever pass from Alejandro Sanchez Lopez.
Gokulam added a third in added time as Alejandro was slipped in behind but Noacha Singh in trying to bump him off the ball, ended up poking it past his own keeper.
After the restart, the goals did not stop.
Abhijith scored a screamer from distance in the 48th minute to make it 4-1 only for Prabir Das to pull one back from a Aimen cross in the 54th.
The game became much more open as both coaches made changes.
In the 75th minute. Bidyashagar missed an open net but more than made up for it barely a minute later by setting up a goal for Luna.
The game turned scrappy soon after as the tackles turned ugly.
The closing moments of the match were tense but Gokulam managed to hold on for the win.
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