I-League: Gokulam Kerala hammers Inter Kashi, SC Bengaluru edges past Sreenidi

Gokulam Kerala finally got their long-awaited first home win of the season, beating Inter Kashi 6-2 in a Round 10 match of the I-League 2024-25 at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Friday.

After the teams left for the dressing at halftime with a 2-2 scoreline, the home side came calling in the second to slam in four goals that left Inter Kashi devastated.

This was Gokulam’s first home win of the season and they have now moved to the fourth position in the table with 16 points from 10 games. Despite the defeat, Inter Kashi has managed to hold on to third place with 17 points from 10 matches.

Having gone down by a goal, Gokulam’s comeback was one for the ages, led by the Montenegro recruit Sinisa Stanisavic’s fine hat-trick and Spanish midfielder Ignacio Abeledo’s genius in midfield.

The game got off to a blistering start and within three minutes Inter Kashi had stunned the hosts to take the lead. Having picked up the ball thirty yards from goal, Bryce Miranda raced through a hapless Gokulamdefensee that parted freely and perhaps a little too easily for the coach’s liking. Once inside the box, the forward slammed his shot low into the bottom corner to stun the hosts.

Gokulam hit back with a vengeance and equalized in the 10th minute, Sinisa Stanisavic rising above the Inter Kashi defense to head in a perfect cross into the bottom corner.

Inter Kashi snatched back the lead in the 27th minute, from a free kick routine straight out of the training ground. A long ball from the right into the box was headed square by Miranda, and Matija Babovic rose above his markers to head the delivery into the net.

Gokulam hit straight back barely two minutes later. Abeledo played a brilliant long ball first time into the path of Suhair Vadakkepeedika who cut it into the path of Stanisavic. The Montenegrin made no mistake, finishing the first time into the bottom left of the net.

Half-chances came and went aplenty for both sides over the next quarter of the game, with neither midfield displaying enough fortitude to hold the ball and manage the gameplay.

The best of those fell to the two men who had already scored goals, Stanisavic forcing a save out of Arindam Bhattacharya with a chance entirely of his conjuring after Miranda had forced a similar save from Shibinraj in Gokulam’s goal.

Gokulam took the lead right on the edge of halftime. Martin Chaves played a square pass to de Loyola at the top of the Kashi box, and the Spaniard turned and shot an inch-perfect shot into the far side bottom corner out of a diving Bhattacharya’s reach.

Gokulam added a fourth six minutes after the restart, Sergio Pardo finishing a sweeping move to put them two to the good. Stanisavic completed his hat trick and scored Gokulam’s fifth with a brilliant looping header from a lobbed pass in the 72nd minute.

The comeback had turned into a rout by the end. Deep in injury time, having spotted Bhattacharya off his line de Loyola let fly from near the center line to score a sixth, insult added to injury as Gokulam cruised to their first home win.

Asif's strike ends SC Bengaluru’s winless streak.

Sporting Club Bengaluru’s 48-day wait for bagging their second three-pointer in the I-League 2024-25 ended on Friday, when they edged Sreenidi Deccan FC 1-0 at the Bangalore Football Stadium.

The winners scored the only goal of the match through Asif OM in the 34th minute.

SC Bengaluru’s only other victory in the ongoing campaign came on December 7, 2024, at the same venue against Dempo Sports Club. The win is somewhat of a relief for the home team as they were languishing at the bottom of the table before this match.

The three points against Sreenidi have now taken SC Bengaluru to eight points from nine matches and elevated them to the 11th position thus relegating Aizawl FC to the unenviable last spot in the 12-team competition. Sreenidi remains static in sixth place with 11 points in their kitty from 10 outings.

With the threat of relegation looming large, SC Bengaluru did display the sense of urgency that was perhaps missing from their earlier matches.

They benefited from the gaps left in the defense by Sreenidi and it allowed the hosts’ attackers, especially Asif and Henry Kisekka, to torment the rival area more than once. They had their chances – but either the goalkeeper, Aryan Lamba, made a few good saves, or the strikers were found wanting.

In between, Sreenidi also had their share of chances, but those were not enough to create too much trouble in the SC Bengaluru defense.

The goal scored by midfielder Asif OM in the 34th minute was a gem and didn’t come against the run of play. By then the home side had made enough noises in the rival area to call for a lead.

It finally came when hardworking Henry Kisekka made his way through the left and toed the ball in the middle. Asif received the ball from his Ugandan teammate well outside the box and being unmarked surprisingly, took his time to unleash a right-footer that beat goalkeeper Aryan Lamba to find the corner of the net.