FC Goa got back to winning ways with a convincing 3-1 score line against Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League match at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda on Sunday.
The hosts started knowing well that a win was a must and got into the scoring stride in the 35th minute when they were awarded a penalty in what appeared to be a soft foul on Captain Brandon Fernandes.
Guarrotxena who stepped up to take the penalty had no difficulty in foxing Kerala goalkeeper Gill.
The early goal unsettled the visitors and FC Goa capitalised again a few minutes later when Noah capitalized on a defensive lapse to grab the ball and easily beat Gill in the Kerala goal.
Down by two goals, the Kerala lads could not break through the FC Goa defense with all their players falling back and giving the visitors no room to break their defensive wall.
FC Goa trooped for the lemon break knowing well that a win today and another in their next match against East Bengal would keep them in sight of qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament.
Kerala who were third on the table before the start of the match and have not moved anywhere after the defeat, started the second session more optimistically keeping possession and trying to break through the flanks.
The visitors got their first clear chance of goal six minutes after the start of play through a free kick that was converted by captain Adrian Luna. Luna floated in a ball that was well met by Diamantakos and headed into the far corner of FC Goa goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh.
The goal unsettled FC Goa and aided more speed to the Kerala legs with the visitors dominating with more purpose – trying to break through but really not managing to get past FC Goa defender Anwar Ali.
Just as the pressure was mounting on FC Goa, the stalemate was broken through a three-pass painting that saw Edu Bedia pass to Brandon and the last named feed Redeem through for a goal that literally sagged the life of Kerala Blasters.
As the game was coming to a close, the competition intensified and a mid-air collision saw Kerala Blasters Soraisham Singh being stretched off the field leaving his colleagues to play with ten men.
The referee blew the final whistle after playing fourteen minutes of added time.
With this win, FC Goa has moved one step ahead - fifth on the table - and has 23 points and is one point ahead of Odisha FC and one point below ATK Mohun Bagan who have a game more to play.
FC Goa plays East Bengal at home on Thursday and then travels to Odisha for their away game and return to face table toppers Mumbai City FC.