Delhi: Debutants Gokulam FC registered their maiden win of the I-League 2017-18 defeating Indian Arrows 2-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on Friday. Foreign recruits Daniel Addo and Khaled Alsaleh scored both the goals, one in each half to bring up the win.
For a team comprising of U-17 and U-19 players it was always going to be difficult against taller opponents during set-pieces but Norton will be more worried about his team’s defensive lapses more than heights.
A corner in the 11th minute saw Daniel ran unmarked in the box, with the Ghanaian meeting Rohit Mirza’s ball to send in a powerful header into the goal, giving his side an important lead early into the match.
The Arrows had a couple of great opportunities to equalise but failed to capitalise with Aniket Jadhav and Rahul Kannoly gulity of squandering open chances across both the halfs.
Gokulam however didn’t and soon made with 2-0 with another set-piece. This time Khaled’s free-kick from the edge of the box surprinsingly escaped all to land inside the net. Arrows goalkeeper Dheeraj who had been impressive ever since the U-17 World Cup failed to judge the flight of the ball and stood stranded as Gokulam ran with a victory, their first of the season.
Desperate to get back Norton soon threw both Rahim Ali and Abhijit Sarkar into the fold. The duo however couldn’t inspire as Arrows succumbed to their third defeat in as many matches. The last few minutes saw Arrows throwing the kitchen sink but again Edmund missed a golden chance to pull one back.
The game however looked to be heading north when the match began with Arrows confident on the ball and playing some neat passes to open up the Gokulam defence. They could have gone ahead as early as the fourth minute but Jadhav shot straight at the goalie from a close range.
Another similar chance went bagging late into the second half, when Suresh Stalin’s well-directed free-kick was saved by a diving Bilal Hussain only as far as Rahul, who headed it above the bar.
The defeat third third of the season left the developmental team languishing at the ninth position while Gokulam jumped to sixth.