Musli Power X-tra Viva Kerala defeated Indian Arrows 1-0 in an I-League 2010-11 at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon to bag all three points that could prove vital in the team's efforts to stay clear of relegation. The all important goal of the round 24 match in the league was scored by Viva Kerala's Nigerian striker Felix Chimaokwu in the first half of the game.
The win takes Viva Kerala to the ninth spot in the I-League table above their today's opponents Indian Arrows. Viva now has 25 points from 24 matches, while Arrows are with 23 points from as many matches.
Indian Arrows started the match with four first team regulars missing the game with injuries and suspensions. The team looked clueless in the first 45 minutes and Viva were quick to draw the first blood. It was Felix who escaped the offside trap to get on the end of an Anil Kumar cross and convert it into a goal in the 19th minute.
There was not much of a reply from the young guns in the first half except a long range effort by Bikramjeet Singh that tested the keeper Sharath K. The Arrows looked like the shadow of the side that thrashed the Kerala side at Kannur a few months back.
In the second half, the home side was more threatening at the Viva Kerala goal, but there was no more goals in this game which ended 1-0 in favour of Viva Kerala. Viva Kerala coach P Kunhikrishnan was delighted with the three points. “We badly needed to win. And the boys rose to the occasion. I feel we are safe now,” he commented on today's result.Viva Kerala's captain Bello Razzaq was named man of the match.
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 30 April 2011, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.