IFL: Gokulam Kerala defeat pushes Dempo to the bottom

Dempo SC’s wait for their first three points continued while Gokulam Kerala FC ended their drought after a 2-0 win in the Indian Football League (IFL) at the Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri, on Friday.
Moses Lalrinzuala put Gokulam ahead in the 20th minute with a fine placement, while captain Mirjalol Kasimov converted a second half penalty to give the hosts their first win in the league.
Gokulam moved from the bottom to fifth place with five points from four games. Dempo dropped to tenth in the standings and have just two points.
The teams were without a win after three games and tried to change their approach by making four changes each.
Gokulam came into the fixture after a solitary goal defeat against Sreenidi Deccan FC and new head coach Dimitris Dimitriou wanted his side to play attackingly right from the start. The home side were a threat going forward and former Churchill Brothers FC duo of Trijoy Dias and Kingslee Fernandes nearly gave them an early breakthrough.
Trijoy sent a dangerous low cross inside the box from the wings to Kingslee, but the midfielder could not get a clean connection.
Gokulam took the lead through Lalrinzuala as he weaved his way past the rival defence and finished with a neat grounder past Dempo custodian Ashish Sibi.
Gokulam came close again just after the half an hour mark when Thabiso Brown’s header hit the horizontal bar and the ball went out of play.
In the 53rd minute, Gokulam were awarded a penalty. Kingslee sent a perfect ball to Brown and Ashish brought the forward down inside the danger zone. Brown stepped up to take the spot kick, but Ashish redeemed himself with a save.
At the other end, Dempo had a chance of their own, but Gokulam custodian Shibinraj Kunniyil denied Marcus from distance.
Dempo had a lucky escape after Brown’s fierce shot from close was blocked by Ashish and the rebound from Trijoy went over.
In the final quarter, Dempo coach Samir Naik used all his five substitutions in the hope of an equaliser, but it didn’t materialise.
In fact, the former five-time champions conceded another penalty in the 83rd minute when centre-back Aubin Kouako brought down Kasinov. The Gokulam captain stepped up and scored past Ashish to double his team’s lead.
Dempo will take on Sreenidi Deccan on Wednesday in their final away fixture. They will then want to make most of their last four fixtures, all at home, and hope they finish in the top-five to stand a chance of challenging for the title.