Gokulam Kerala FC 2 (Ignacio de Loyola Abeledo 8’, 90’)
beat
Sporting Club Bengaluru 0

AIFF Media Team

KOZHIKODE: Gokulam Kerala FC notched their second home win of the season with a comfortable 2-0 victory SC Bengaluru in the I-League 2024-25 at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.

Ignacio de Loyola Abeledo scored both the goals in the eighth and 90th minutes.

The result propelled Gokulam Kerala to third in the table with 19 points from 11 matches, two behind leaders Namdhari FC, albeit having played one more than Churchill Brothers in second. SC Bengaluru meanwhile stay rooted to the bottom of the table, and will have to produce a sharp turn to salvage their season.     

Gokulam put their burners on right from the start, battering at an SC Bengaluru side that had just added last year’s top scorer Alex Sanchez to their ranks. In the 7th minute, Gokulam had their first chance, Suhair Vadakkepeedika coming in from the right of the box and unleashing a fierce low drive towards the near post. Yuya Kuriyama parried the shot away, but the rebound fell to Ignacio de Loyola Abeledo. The Spaniard’s first time attempt was cleared off the line. 

Bengaluru had barely exhaled the fumes of their relief at seeing that chance go begging, when Gokulam scored the opener. Some brilliant close passing link up play between Martin Chaves and Vadakkepeedika saw the latter lay the ball into Abeledo’s path inside the box. The Spaniard’s low shot towards the right corner was inch perfect. Kuriyama’s dive was in vain. 

Gokulam showed no signs of slowing down, and were keen to add to their tally. Kuriyama was constantly called into action and made a memorable save from point blank range off a corner. The visitors were living off scraps and did not really test Shibinraj Kunniyil at all in the first period, Salam Johnson Singh their own real chance wide. 

Despite taking their foot off the pedal a bit in the second half, Gokulam did just enough to keep Bengaluru at bay, thwarting their attacks as well as controlling the pace and direction of the game itself. Despite the narrow lead they seldom looked likely to concede a goal and throw the points away. 

Abeledo scored a second in the final minute of the game, running on to a cleared ball to launch a one-man counter attack. He took the ball to the left, forcing Kuriyama off his line and despite the tighter angle finished brilliantly into the far corner to ensure his side’s victory.

Perhaps the only blemish from their game came in the sixth minute of injury time, when Salam Ranjan Singh picked up a second yellow card for a needless foul, to be sent off.