I-League: Churchill survive late Kerala scare, extend lead

KOLKATA: Churchill Brothers squeezed past a last-minute scare to beat 10-man Gokulam Kerala FC 3-2 at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Monday, and extended their lead at the top of the I-League table to five points.

Hero-of-the-Match Luka Majcen's brace and Kingslee Fernandes' goal helped Santiago Valera's side win.

Gokulam Kerala made a dominant start to the game, and created a couple of chances in the opening three minutes, but Vincy Barretto and Philip Adjah were unable to get their shots away from inside the area.

Churchill custodian Shilton Paul had to be alert when Ubaid released Philip Adjah with a long kick forward, and the Ghanaian tried to sneak his volley at the near post in the seventh minute. Two minutes later, Zuniga forced Gokulam Kerala's goalkeeper Ubaid into making a sharp save after he met Bryce Miranda's cross at the far post.

After the opening exchanges, Churchill started to knock the Gokulam Kerala defence on multiple occasions and finally broke the Malabarian defence with a well-built move in the 26th minute. Bryce Miranda knocked down Vinil Poojary's cross, sending it across the goal, where Luka Majcen was waiting to bundle the cross into an empty net from close range. IANS

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