Churchill bank on home comfort against Kerala

Vasco: Churchill Brothers FC will have their eyes on the third spot as they face Gokulam Kerala FC in an I-League clash at the Tilak Maidan, Vasco, on Sunday.

Churchill’s last win at home came against bottom-placed Sudeva Delhi FC last month. Since then, the two-time champions were on the road for three games and managed only three points from their 2-1 win against Mohammedan SC.

They come into the fixture after a closely fought 1-2 defeat against TRAU but coach Mateus Costa remains optimistic.

“The mood in the camp is really fantastic. We are doing good on the training ground, so hopefully they keep the same attitude on the pitch,” Costa said during the pre-match media interaction on Saturday.

It will be a crucial tie for Churchill who are fifth, while Kerala are a place above them in fourth position. Both have played 17 games, but Churchill are a point behind their opponents on 26.

When the teams met in the first leg, Kerala won by a late solitary goal.

“It was a good match for us there (in Kerala). We only had some defensive lapses, otherwise we played well. So, we’ll have to take care that we don’t repeat our mistakes,” Costa said.

Kerala too have had a drop in form and managed only three points in their last three games. After defeats against Punjab FC and Mohammedan, Kerala managed to edge past Rajasthan United FC 2-1 away.

Kerala have conceded the least number of goals (12) and have the most clean sheets (9). It will all depend on Churchill’s front three of Abdoulaye Sane, Bayi Kamo and Emmanuel Yaghr to test Bouba Aminou-led Kerala’s defence.

Churchill have scored 28 goals, only joint leaders Sreenidi Deccan (34) have scored more. The Goan side has lacked consistency upfront.

Kerala will miss their head coach Francesc Bonet because of the red card he received in the dying moments against TRAU. But his assistant Anthony Andrews did not think that would be much of an issue.

“The mood is really positive because we got a good result before coming here. We are going to perform better and take our chances early,” said Andrews.

The kickoff is at 5.30pm


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