Kalyani, Sep 16: Ghanian forward Rahim Osumanu scored the only goal as defending Champions Gokulam Kerala FC prevailed over Hyderabad FC 1-0 in a Group D encounter of the 130th Durand Cup at the Kalyani stadium here on Thursday.
Osumanu scored within a minute on resumption after half-time and Gokulum held onto the lead despite losing Emil Benny, who was given a second yellow card.
Gokulam played an attacking game from the word go and created quite a few chances to score.
Early on in the first half, GKFC had the first major chance when Rahim Osumanu had the ball right in front of the Hyderabad FC goal but he could not put it past goalkeeper Lalbiakhlua Jongte.
A few minutes later, GKFC had another golden opportunity, courtesy a beautiful cross by Osumanu but Emil Benny failed to score.
In the second half, Gokulam picked up from where they left off, and made an impact immediately. Jongte made a terrific save but Osumanu had the ball on rebound. He made no mistake and broke the deadlock in the 46th minute.
The match took another interesting turn a minute later when GKFC’s Emil Benny received his second yellow card and got his marching orders, leaving the Malabarians a man down although they stood firm until the final whistle. (IANS)
