Gokulam Kerala FC and Churchill Brothers FC Goa played out a 1-1 draw in the I-League at the EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode on Friday.
Willis Plaza scored in the 5th minute giving the Goan team an early lead but later in the first half, a showcase of individual brilliance from Gokulam Kerala FC’s Arjun Jayaraj saw the hosts equalise in the 36th minute. Jayaraj was adjudged the Hero of the Match.
Churchill Brothers took to the field riding high on a convincing win they garnered against Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in their last encounter and true to their form they started the game on an attacking mode with Willis Plaza leading the charge.
Churchill drew the first blood as early as the 5th minute through a brilliant goal from Plaza, assisted from an equally outstanding pass from Lamgoulen Hangshing.
Plaza is now the highest goal scorer in the I-League this season, with six goals to his credit.
Soon after, Gokulam Kerala came really close to an equaliser but couldn’t convert when a good pass from Antonio German to Rajesh could not find the right direction to the back of the net.
Kerala’s efforts soon reaped results when Jayaraj received the ball inside the box from a pass from Christian Sabah and made no mistake in scoring an outstanding equaliser for the hosts in the 36th minute.
The game thereafter changed quite a bit with Gokulam Kerala FC pressing harder and making a few attempts to score as well, but the Churchill defence line stood strong with their ‘keeper James Kithan denying the hosts any chance to score and take the lead in the first half.
The intensity of the game could be judged by the fact that between both the teams a total of 15 shots were attempted in the first 60 minutes of the game. Gokulam Kerala FC led these statistics with 9 shots to their favour while the visitors had only 6 shots to their credit.
Gokulam Kerala FC will now travel to Kolkata to take on Quess East Bengal FC on 8th December 2018 while Churchill Brothers FC are scheduled to face Aizawl FC in Goa on 9th December 2018.