Curtains for Kerala in humiliating loss; FC Goa bulldoze their way to the playoffs

FC GOA executed a step-by-step disintegration of their opponents as they recovered from a goal-deficit, took the lead and ruthlessly ran a 10-man Kerala Blasters to the ground courtesy a hat-trick and an assist from Reinaldo, and two superb assists from Leo Moura. 

Kerala Blasters coach Terry Phelan chose to switch back to Stephen Bywater in goal in the last home game of the ISL regular season and made two other changes; giving Peter Carvalho and Mohammed Rafi a start. Zico, too, made three changes in the FC Goa ranks: Pronay Halder, Debabrata Roy and Jofre made it back into the starting line-up. 

The match began in an explosive fashion as the home team banged in a goal in the very second minute. Dagnall fed Pulga who passed to German who sent it back for Pulga, and the finishing volley went like a bullet past the Goa keeper. 1-0.

An immediate counter from the Gaurs almost saw them get even but Bywater managed to collect Mandar's cross before it could reach Reinaldo inside the box.

But the visitors didn't have to wait long for their equalizer. Reinaldo ran up the right flank and sent a cross in for an unmarked Jofre inside the box whose foot swung like a hammer. There was little to be done. It was 1-1.

And then things got ugly when Mohammed Rafi invaded the Goa box. Gregory Arnolin went in and deliberately stomped on Rafi but the referee could not spot it. It should have been a penalty and a card but instead Arnolin got away unpunished.

Over the next few minutes Kerala controlled the flow of the game and frustrated the visitors by managing to keep most of the possessions. But it was Goa who struck again, thanks to Kerala defenders being unprepared for sudden moves like that. 

Moura and Mandar combined to push ahead from the midfield and the former sent a swift through ball to Reinaldo whose finish was inch-perfect. Goa had managed to come back from a deficit and manage to earn a lead, not for the first time this season.

Kerala got a couple chances to come back. A through ball from Josue saw Dagnall in possession. He found his way into the box but shot the ball wide. Then a Pulga cross almost got Dagnall a one-on-one with Laxmikant but Arnolin managed to intervene and successfully clear it. 

Knowing things needed a lift, coach Phelan decided to make an early substitute; replacing Saumik Dey with Ishfaq Ahmed. But before something could be done things took a turn for extreme worse after Jofre's onslaught on Kerala half got called off for offside. Jofre and Josue Currais had a verbal exchange, following which the latter straight up punched the former. A massive scuffle broke out as several players from both teams got injured, pushing and shoving each other.

After the referee and some of the cooler headed players had managed to calm things down, Josue was shown a straight red card, which summed up the first half perfectly for Kerala Blasters. They got the lead, played well, then lost the lead and then lost a player and now they were looking at a second half with 10 men. It wasn't exactly looking up for Phelan's boys. And soon after the second half began, it became clear that all of their worst fears were coming true.

Kerala took both their remaining substitutions at the start of the second half; replacing Peter Carvalho and Mohammed Rafi with C.K. Vineeth and Mehtab Hossain. But soon after the half kicked off Mandar Rao Desai was allowed a free passage up the left flank. He crossed to Reinaldo who was practically at the goalmouth and he put in his second goal of the night. 3-1 to Goa.

Then before long Goa scored again. It was Reinaldo claiming his hat-trick, from a Sabeeth cross. The Brazilian striker took ISL 2015 his goal tally to 7, beyond Sunil Chhetri. Within 4 minutes, Mandar Rao Desai also got in on the goalfest. The ball came from ISL's assist king Leo Moura, and the finish came from Mandar's left foot. 5-1 to Goa.

The match was over with about half an hour still to go. Zico replaced Sabeeth to give Bikramjit Singh some minutes. Reinaldo got a golden chance to get his 4th goal of the night but he could not receive the pass properly. 

And finally when Kerala got a chance to get a goal of their own as Dagnall fed Pulga who was in scoring range, he sent it above the crossbar. 

The remaining evening was borderline fun and frolics for FC Goa as they did things like passing the ball around, fouling Mehtab and getting booked (in Leo Moura's case) and give some playing time to Romeo Fernandes and Denson Devadas. The game ended as it should have. FC Goa planted their flag firmly in the semi-finals with a massive statement. 

And last year's finalists Kerala Blasters' last remaining hopes of making the top-four got summarily thrown out by the neck in front of their own fans, who will go back with a broken heart tonight, let down by the team they turned up every matchday with the fiercest passion that the ISL has ever seen.