Ferran Corominas brace helped FC Goa seal a 3-1 win against Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday.
The Spaniard headed in his first goal in the 11th minute and found his second one with a solo run from the middle in the 45th minute.
The win took Goa three points clear of the second placed Bengaluru FC who has 13 points from five outings. With a second home loss in a row, Blasters are locked at seventh spot with 7 points.
Ahmed Jahouh, who as a pay back to almost giving away a goal as early as in the fifth minute of the game, set him up from a poor clearance of a corner by the Kerala side. Coro left behind his marksman in the last second to head a curling delivery from Jahouh into the far low corner leaving Naveen Kumar no option.
The second goal was a screaming example of why Coro is one of the top forwards of ISL 5. Thirty four minutes after netting the first one, the Goan striker collected through ball from Edu Bedia from their own half and dashed into the Kerala danger zone dribbling past Kerala defenders to volley in his second.
Goa found their third goal in the 67th minute, when substitute Manvir Singh teamed up with Hugo Boumous, also fresh from the also fresh from the bench, to head in a corner.
Kerala's consolation goal game in the 90th minute when their defensive line took the matters in their hand frustrated to see the lacklustre show from their forwards. Midfielder Nikola Krcmarevic flicked in a low pass from skipper Sandesh Jhingan from the right edge of the box. Goa handed the ball back to Jhingan with a poor clearance and the Blasters captain made no mistake in the second time.
Kerala looked weak at every department even when they created some real good chances in both the halves. Kerala fans had to wait till late second half to see a shot on target from the Yellow Brigade.
Their game was marred by poor finishes, loose passes and dispossessions from the beginning. David James' side looked unprepared for the Gaurs and failed to find their rhythm till the last quarter of the game.
Kerala had come close to finding the opener as close as in the fifth minute, when Slavisa Stojanovic stole a ball from Jahouh and set up Keziron Kizito with a through pass. The visitors were saved by Mohamed Ali, who defended off Kizito.
But James was forced to replace Stojanovic by Seiminlen Doungel, a change which looked like an injury-forced one. James, who benched five players from the side that played against Bengaluru FC, waited till 71st minute to bring in striker C.K. Vineeth.
Kerala was building some momentum at that time as Goa looked contented with the 3-0 margin. Though they were on target couple of times, Mohammad Nawaz produced some memorable saves to keep the scoreline locked for his side. On the other end, his counterpart Naveen also made some courageous saves.
