Gokulam Kerala FC achieved their maiden I-League title on Saturday as they trailed by one goal to beat TRAI 4–1 in the final match of the season. Bidyashgar Singh’s 23rd minute strike as goals from Sharif Mohammed (69th), Emil Beni (74th), Dennis Antavi (77th) and Mohammad Rashid (90 + 6) did nothing to stop Gokulam Bazigari. did. Churchill Brothers won 3–0 in the second match played against Punjab FC on the day, as well as Gokulam sharing points (29) for Goen, but became champions with a head-to-head record.
In both matches played in the season, Churchill had won 3–2 once, while winning 3–0 in Gokulam.
Gokulam thus qualified for the group stage of Asia’s second tier club competition of the AFC Cup the following season. He also became the first side from Kerala to win the I-League title. Vincenzo Alberto Anise, the coach of the winning team, could not hide the joy of his players’ achievement.
“This is the best day of my life. I feel so happy and I feel amazing wearing the crown of a champion. I am very proud of my team and we are worthy of becoming champions. We have eliminated all the teams and We played like champions in this. Season, “said Annies.
He said, “This is everything for me. This is my first season in India and it is already very special. We have a very special team and no one plays the style of football we play,” They said.
Bidishagar, a revelation like his team Trai in the I-League, opened the scoring when he made a superb performance from outside the box in the 23rd minute. After the restart, Chanso Horam had a golden opportunity to hand True the second goal of the match, but his chip shot drifted into the bar after a fine counter-attack.
Gokulam’s forward Dennis Antwi failed to find the net in the 62nd minute as his header went far ahead of Emile Benny’s cross from right flank. Sharif Mohammed’s free kick from the edge of the box equalized for Gokulam Kerala FC.
The 74th minute rebounded well when Emil Beni overtook his marker and headed home from through Amrit Gop’s legs to lead Gokulam. Three minutes later, Dennis Antwy scored to take the lead. Mohammed Rashid scored the fourth goal for Gokulam, completing a remarkable comeback after TRAI player Vinci Barreto was sent out in extra time.
In the second match, Churchill took the lead in the ninth minute, when Clavin Zuniga was brought inside the box. Under the resulting penalty, Slovenian striker Luka Mazken replaced rival custodian Jaspreet Singh by chance by sending him wrong.
Churchill doubled their lead in the 25th minute through Juniga, who scored his second goal in the first half time to give Goen a 3–0 lead. Facing a difficult task, Punjab FC managed to pull one back through Joseba Bettiah in the 65th minute and added another four minutes later via Papa Diara.
Promoted
Gokulam took Rs 1 crore as prize money, while the second, third and fourth placed teams received Rs 60 lakh, Rs 40 lakh and Rs 25 lakh respectively.
Bidyashagar Singh (TRAU) won the Hero of the League Award (Rs 5 lakh) with the highest goal scorer award (Rs 2.5 lakh). Best Goalkeeper Award (Rs 2.5 lakh) went to Kiran Limbu of Punjab FC. Syed Abdul Rahim Award for Best Coach was given to Nandkumar Singh of TRAI.
Topics mentioned in this article
.
Leave a Reply