A new giant killer is in town and that is Namdhari FC. The dream run of the Bhaini Sahib based club extended to one more game as they beat one of the title challengers and two-time champions Gokulam Kerala FC at their home. Despite having no stalwarts in their team, the men from Punjab managed to secure their third win in a row and the fifth consecutive clean sheet. Meanwhile, for Gokulam Kerala FC, it was yet another disappointing home game.
Despite having the majority of the possession for most phases of the game, Gokulam failed to capitalise on the opportunities and Namdhari punished them for it. Within the first 20 minutes of the game, Namdhari FC was up by two goals, courtesy of the strike of Mavir Singh and the penalty kick by Cledson Carvalho da Silva.
The first goal arrived from the first Namdhari corner of the game in the 14th minute, and with the Gokulam defence ball watching, Manvir Singh expertly headed the ball in to give them the lead. Four minutes later this was doubled by De from the spot. Goalkeeper Jaspreet Singh’s long kick caught out the backtracking Gokulam defence and forced Shibinraj Kunniyil off his line to try and clear the ball away from Cledson Da Silva. Contesting the ball, he fouled the Brazilian and the referee pointed to the spot.
The early strikes shook the Malabarians and they started to play dominating football. However, the strikers miserably failed to convert the chances created by their colleagues, resulting in the end of their four unbeaten game streak. In fact, the Malabarians have scored only one goal in the four home matches they have played so far in the season. Today, despite having more possession, more shots on goal, and set-pieces, the former champions could score a goal.
The second half played out to the tunes of the first, Gokulam constantly pushing forward in numbers, creating chances and then missing them, often in the most inventive of ways. There was little their coach Antonio Rueda could do but clutch his head in disbelief.
He made some positive substitutions in the second half by withdrawing Salam Ranjan to make way for Suhair. Nevertheless, the score stood undisturbed. Gokulam kept pressing forward, creating and then spurning chances, often from situations where watchers would have expected better. And when they did manage to get their shots on target, Jaspreet stood strong to block them away. Siniša Stanisavić would like to forget this matchday as his presence was barely felt in a positive for Malabarians. The best chance of the half fell to Martín Cháves, who played a brilliant one-two at the edge of the box with Sergio Llamas, before the latter chipped a pass through to Cháves running in. The Uruguayan volleyed it high from seven yards out.
Jaspreet Singh played his part to perfection between the sticks for the visitors, thwarting any goal attempt, no matter the range. In the 72nd, he was instrumental in keeping the danger at bay, blocking Suhair VP’s shot toward the near post after the forward had drifted in from the left and created an opportunity on his own.
On another day, Gokulam could have had a handful of goals, but not on this one, against an opposition determined to protect their unbeaten run and a clean sheet — their fifth in a row now. The former Giant Killers and now the Giants of the league need to find a solution for their goal-scoring woes.
Gokulam Kerala remains in fourth place with 13 points from nine games. Namdhari FC are on 17 points with five wins and only leaders Churchill Brothers have won more games than them.
