Gokulam Kerala FC booked their place in the Group Stage of the Super Cup when they made short work of the formidable Mohammedan Sporting 5-2 in the qualifying encounter at the Payyanad Stadium on Wednesday.
A match that looked like a close battle till the one-hour mark proved to be a completely one-sided affair in the end as the Mohammedan defence caved in to allow the Gokulam strikers often a free run.
In the end, the Malabarians were deserving winners as they were quick to avail the opportunities that came their way. Gokulam shot into the lead in the 10th minute when their Spanish midfielder Omar Ramos received the ball in the rival box and could cut in to beat the Mohammedan Sporting goalkeeper Mithun Samanta and place the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Given the trend of the proceedings at the time, the Kolkata side was not far behind the local favourites in terms of exchanges and attacks.
Their persistent attempts finally paid dividends in the 27th minute. The visitors played a fair amount of passes in the Gokulam area before Nigerian forward Abiola Dauda sidestepped his marker to beat Shibinraj Kunnyil under the Gokulam bar.
The start of the second half saw a flurry of activities with goals coming at both ends in fairly quick succession. Gokulam regained the lead soon after the breather, in the 47th minute. It wasn’t a goal that put the Mohammedan defence in a brighter light. Sourav ran in almost unchecked from the left – once he outwitted a defender on the run, all he had to do was to use the vacant space and then slam past the goalkeeper. His shot to the far post, however, was perfect and left little chance for Samanta.
Not to be outwitted, Mohammedan once again launched attacks and picked up the equaliser only a minute later. Dauda, who always lurked in the area looking for the stray ball, scored his second goal of the day to leave Gokulam frustrated.
