Angulo brace, Albino howler hand Goa first win of the season

Vipin Pawar / Sportzpics for ISL

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Igor Angulo's brace powered Goa to their first win of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 season as they beat a sloppy Kerala Blasters 3-1 in Goa on Sunday. While Goa were outstanding in attack throughout, Kerala goalkeeper Albino Gomes' errors had a hand in both of Angulo's goals. Jorge Ortiz was the other goalscorer for Goa, while Vicente Gomez got a late consolation goal for Kerala, who shortly after went down to 10 men following Costa Nhamoinesu's red card.

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Goa produced the first clear effort in the 10th minute, with Jorgi Ortiz hitting the bar following a brilliant turn and swing from outside of the box. Kerala's sloppy defending gifted striker Igor Angulo a golden chance in the 17th minute when Costa Nhamoinesu terrible back pass landed at his feet, sending him one on one with the keeper, but hit the post going for a precise finish.

The sloppiness finally cost Kerala on the half hour mark, when Igor Angulo went through on goal from Saviour Gama's lofted ball. The striker's job was made easy by goalkeeper Albino Gomes, who decided to advance instead of staying on the line, only to watch the ball sail over his head into the goal.

Kerala continued to lose the ball in dangerous positions throughout the first half, with Goa's poor finishing and a few refereeing decisions helping them to keep it at 1-0.

Goa nearly took the lead moments into the second half, with Ortiz going through on the right from a quick break and forcing a fingertip save from the keeper with his chip. The wide spaces in behind Kerala's line continued to open up, with Edu Bedia specifically benefitting from it with his through balls as well as long, crossfield balls.

The second goal only seemed a matter of time, and it came from another brilliant move, ending with an eye-of-the-needle ball from Brandon Fernandes followed by a neat finish into the bottom left corner from Ortiz.

Goa had several more chances to finish the game off, but despite their fluidity up front, they were also often exposed at the back and Kerala could easily have sneaked a way back in the second half. They came close to reducing the deficit in the 67th minute, when Vicente Gómez hit the bar with a left footed shot from the left side of the box. Gomez did finally score in the 90th minute, though, with a towering header to find the bottom right corner from Nishu Kumar's cross. Any hopes of a late comeback were lost just a minute later, when Costa Nhamoinesu was sent off for a second yellow for a late challenge on Princeton Rebello.

It got even worse in the final minutes of injury time for Kerala, and specifically for goalkeeper Gomes, who inexplicably rolled the ball into Angulo's path for the latter to get his second and Goa's third.

The win helped Goa jump to fourth in the table, and they next face Odisha FC on December 12. Kerala remain 9th, and still without a win, and will next face Bengaluru FC on December 13.

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