The Stars
Milagres, Pearson and Narayan
Milagres Gonsalves came on for Sabeeth and was brilliant. He was the busiest player on the field after coming on and scored the opener, which turned out to be the winning goal for the Kerala Blasters in their debut home game. The striker’s entry in the second half was a real boost as his simple tapping goal earned crucial 3 points for the home team. Milagres could have assisted a goal after a mouthwatering pass wasn’t scored by his teammate Sushanth.
Stephen Pearson gave his total vigor and heart against FC Goa. The Scotsman’s long balls from the midfield to the wings were dead accurate. He controlled the midfield of the Blasters efficiently with Romey and troubled the FC Goa’s defense time and again.
Narayan Das’s overlapping runs on the left flank were absolutely superb. His combination with Mandar Joshi was tidy and posed threat to their opposition. While defending, the former Pailan Arrows defender did his bit decently.
The Flops
Debabrata, Arnalin and Avinabo
Debabrata looked to be in the dreamland in the first-half against Kerala Blasters. He gave acres of space for the leftwing duo- Narayan and Mandar to breathe in. The right-back continued his mistakes in the next half too, but was lucky enough not to concede a goal.
Gregory Arnalin completed a forgettable game for the visitors. He forced a lot of errors in this match and could have been costly if a goal had gone in. The French centre-back had missed a free header from a free-kick in the first-half and finished a disappointing 90 minutes for Zico’s side.
Avinabo Bag for Kerala Blasters was a patchy player. He did very little for the home team while attacking by losing the ball. Overall, the ex-Pailan Arrows player wasn’t impressive for the day.
