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Bhubaneswar: Goals in the second half of the game by Jean Joachim, Aryn Williams and Felix Chidi helped Neroca FC to come from behind and defeat ISL team Kerala Blasters by 3-2 goals in the last pre-quaterfinal encounter of the Super Cup Football Tournament at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar today. Kerala Blasters were leading by two goals till the 70th minute of the match but Neroca played brilliantly in the last 20 minutes to knock the ISL team out of the tourney.
Kerala Blasters started with a very attacking mindset and in the fifth minute of the game they were awarded a free-kick and Milan Singh kicked the ball wide of the goalpost.
Five minutes later, Kerala Blasters attacked in numbers again and a cross from the right flank hit the arm of Neroca FC defender Gouramangi Singh and Kerala was awarded a penalty kick. Spanish footballer Victor Forcada kicked the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal post to give the Blasters an early lead of 1-0 in the 11th minute.
Neroca attacked for the first time in the 17th minute and their corner kick was punched away by Kerala goalie Paul Rachubka and eventually cleared by CK Vineeth.
Kerala Blasters got consecutive chances in the 25th and 26th minutes of the game but midfielder Prashanth's left-footed kick first hit the crossbar and on the second occasion CK Vineeth's kick went on to hit the side net.
Neroca tried to score an equaliser in the 36th minute but Aryn Williams' shot on target was saved by the goalie. Six minutes later Nigerian striker Felix Chidi's kick on the goal was saved by Kerala goalkeeper Paul Rachubka. The scoreline remained 1-0 in favour of the men in yellow from Kerala.
Neroca's fortunes didn't change after change of sides. Only four minutes into the second half, Prashanth doubled the lead for the Blasters. A brilliant attacking move with good understanding resulted in that goal. Prashanth received the pass from Courage Pekusan from the left edge of the box and slotted the ball into the post without any trouble.
Neroca FC came back strong in the 71st minute with Jean Joachim scoring the first goal for the Manipur-based I-League club. A corner kick was cleared by Kerala defender Wesley Brown but Joachim got the ball and dragged it into the box and nailed the first goal for Neroca to reduce the margin.
After the opening goal, rise in intensity was clearly seen in the Neroca camp. They constantly attacked Kerala goalpost. In the 79th minute, substitute Pritam Singh's cross from the right flank was headed into the goalpost by Australian Aryn Williams and Neroca FC was back in the game with the scoreline reading 2-2.
Couple of minutes later the ball hit the arms of Kerala defender Wesley Brown inside the box and Neroca got a chance to kick the ball from the spot. Nigerian striker Felix Chidi made no mistake in the 82nd minute and sent the Kerala goalie the wrong way and slotted the ball into the post to take lead.
Nothing much happened thereafter and another ISL side went down to a young I-League team from the North Eastern part of India. Neroca became the last team to qualify for the quarter-finals. Jean Joachim was awarded the Hero of the Match.
In the first quarterfinal encounter on Sunday, East Bengal will meet another I-League side Aizawl FC.
