I-League: Sloppy NEROCA suffer 1-4 loss to Gokulam

KOLKATA: NEROCA FC looked a pale shadow of themselves as they were beaten 1-4 by Gokulam Kerala FC in an I-League encounter at Kalyani Municipal Stadium on Monday. Gokulam took most of the chances coming their way to punish a defensively sloppy Imphal side with goals from Jiteswor Singh (own goal), Philip Adjah, Jestin George and Sharif Mukhammad (penalty) while substitute Songphu Singsit decreased the margin for NEROCA.
Gokulam took the lead through an own goal in the 23rd minute when Jiteswor tried to clear a Rashid Khan cross from left but the NEROCA midfielder's flicked header went into the net instead. It was following a short corner on left that Rashid floated in the cross for his teammates inside the area and the NEROCA backline should take the blame for allowing their opponents huge space outside the box.
Just after the half-hour mark, the side from Kerala doubled their lead with the help of some sloppy defending by the Orange brigade. This time, on a counter, Dennis Antwi provided a lovely through to Adjah, who took a touch before beating NEROCA goalkeeper Bishorjit Singh with a powerful shot, which hit the crosspiece before crossing the goalline.
Gokulam were 3-0 up in the 39th minute with a soft goal from George as the centre-back chested in a Deepak Devrani free-kick from right, which beat Bishorjit with the loop.
NEROCA did look a better lot after the breather but it was indeed a huge task to come back from 0-3 down against a bunch of players who were in good touch taking any opportunity coming their way. NEROCA coach Gift Raikhan made double change at the break with winger Singsit and wing-back Manjit Singh replacing Akbar Khan and Shoib Akhtar respectively. It made his boys visible in the opposition half, especially with Singsit making some inroads into the opposition area with his swift runs down the flank.
However, with both sides playing some attacking football with different intention, Gokulam added another from the spot, albeit after some amusement in the middle. While Antwi earned the spot-kick after he was tripped by Manjit, Afghan mideo Sharif jostled with the Ghanaian to take the honours of converting from the spot. In the process Sharif even earned a yellow after kicking the ball out of play in sheer frustration.
Ghanaian forward Adjah had to intervene before calling Sharif back to take the kick. Still angry, the Afghan kept his cool and did the job with a superbly struck penalty which beat Bishorjit all ends up to put Gokulam 4-0 up in the 84th minute.
Singsit deservingly pulled one back for NEROCA two minutes from time when he finished a solo run from outside area after beating his marker and an onrushing Gokulam custodian Ubaid Kadavath with a clinical shot.