Nayanar Cup: Late goal hurts Kerala

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Kerala XI players missed a flurry of chances as BN Railiway held the hosts 1-1 in the Group I match of the E.K Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup football tournament held at Kozhikode Corporation Stadium on Sunday.

Kerala dominated the game throughout and had about six clear chances at goal. R. Kannan opened the scoring for Kerala in the 37th minute from a superb header off a set piece taken by Asker. Right from the start of the game, Kerala XI flooded the Railway half with short passes and advances down the flanks.

But as a prelude for the missed opportunities yet to come, Kannan fluffed a cross from left after being wrong footed in the 11th minute. Later, Usman lost a one-on-one battle with Railway custodian Ganesh Singh.

Railway, however, played better in the injury time of the first half as Felex stunned the Kerala defenders by unexpectedly surging into the penalty box and collecting a cross from the left wing. But Kerala goalie Joby Joseph’s acrobatics came into rescue of the Kerala team.

The second half witnessed silly mistakes from the Kerala defenders as the Railway forwards consistently threatened the Kerala custodian.

In the 60th minute of the game, Railway were denied a goal as a powerful shot by Erin Aningo hit the woodwork.

Usman failed to connect crosses twice within a gap of two minutes while Kannan worked hard providing ball upfront from the middle. The Railway team equalised the score in the 77 th minute as Christian took advantage of a defensive lapse by Kerala players.

Though Kerala made several more chances after the goal, they can only lament over the profligacy of their strikers.

Air India defeat M.E.G. 2-1

Air India captain Ezeh Nna Henry struck in the 62nd minute to lead his team to a 2-1 victory over Madras Engineering Group, Bengaluru, in the Group I match of the E.K Nayanar Memorial tournament played at Kozhikode Corporation Stadium on Sunday.

The striker flicked in a cross from the left flank over the MEG custodian to score. Earlier in the game, a fifth-minute stamp on Henry in the penalty box resulted in the opener as Sandesh Gadkari converted subsequent penalty.

The Bengaluru team, however, reduced the deficit to 1-2 after a cross from right wing was perfectly slotted in by Aiyappa in the 63rd minute.

For MEG, Akosh missed an easy chance in the 17th minute, shooting the ball wide off the target.