The Kerala side had the slightly better chances in the first half, but Kenkre FC remained in the game throughout, even shading the possession stats in their advantage, with 57 per cent of the ball possession in the first half.Kerala United made the breakthrough three minutes after half time, as they eventually added the final product to their promising patterns of play. As Akhil P fed the ball out to the left flank, Salman K found himself in space to produce a good cross, which was flicked on at the near post by Nimshad Roshan.Bujair Valiyattu timed his run perfectly to come in at the far post and rifle the ball high into Tenzin's goal to make it 1-0 for Kerala United.Kenkre FC were helped by the introduction of substitute Lester Fernandez, who brought a measure of experience and composure to Kenkre's play. Fernandez expertly slotted away a penalty for Kenkre FC in the 65th minute, after Gabriel Lima gave away a foul inside the box with a mistimed lunging tackle.After coming back on level terms, Kenkre FC made it a double whammy seven minutes later in the 72nd minute to turn the game around after going behind. Aravind Rajan sent in a peach of a low cross from the right flank after a fast flowing move, which Ranjeet Singh finished from close range to give Kenkre FC a 2-1 lead to hold onto for the remainder of the game.That match finished with a 2-1 win for the side from Maharashtra, leaving it all to do for KUFC for the rest of the group stage matches.Kenkre FC will now face ARA FC in their next encounter on October 9.
--IANSavk/bsk
(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)
