Gokulam Kerala walloped Rajasthan United 4-1 in an exciting match in the I-League at the Namdhari Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab on Friday.
Gokulam moved to second position in the league table after the game to amass 26 points and ended up being just five away from table-toppers Mohammedan SC. The defeat at home kept Rajasthan United in the ninth position of the table, with their tally remaining stuck at 15 points.
The Desert Warriors' positioning in the standings is not affected at all, and they continue vying with Inter Kashi and Churchill Brothers for the lower mid-table position.
Of course, the disappointment of not moving upwards must have affected Rajasthan tremendously after this game.
Gokulam took the game by the scruff of its neck in the second half and put it to bed
Although Rajasthan started the game on the front foot, Gokulam were always the better side. They dominated possession and passed the ball around as if they were the home team, and not the visitors.
Komron Tursunov started the scoring for the Malabarians in the 28th minute and that remained the only goal scored between the two teams in the first half.
However, when the second half began, the game exploded out of proportion as Alex Sanchez hammered one in the 55th minute, while Tursunov bagged his second 12 minutes later.
Laishram Johnson Singh got his name on the scoresheet in the 80th minute to add the fourth goal for Gokulam and comfortably sail to the three points on offer. The Malabarians also seemed to collect a clean sheet, but Richardson Denzell pulled one back for Rajasthan United in the dying stages of the match.
The Desert Warriors will now travel to Mizoram to take on Aizawl FC in their next game in the I-League on February 19, whereas Gokulam Kerala travel to play Delhi FC on the same day.