Former Kerala Blasters winger Rahul scores brace as Purushothaman’s Odisha post first win

Two former Kerala Blasters men had a memorable outing on Friday as Odisha FC celebrated their first win of the Indian Super League (ISL) season, a thumping 4-1 result against NorthEast United in Guwahati.

Odisha's head coach, T G Purushothaman, was a former interim boss at the Blasters and a popular assistant coach of the Kochi-based side. Today's win was his first since taking charge in February.

What made the result more special was a brace for former Blasters winger Rahul K P. The Thrissur native opened the scoring in the 6th minute and added a second in the 65th as Odisha punished their visitors, who were reduced to 10 men in the 36th minute after Mayakannan's red card.

Rahul could not have got an easier goal to kickstart his campaign as a heavy touch from goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh and pressure applied by Rahim Ali turned into a gift for the Malayali, who passed into an empty net from inside the box.

For his second goal, Rahul had to work harder. It came from a counter and Rahul used his pace to outrun the defenders before guiding the ball past Gurmeet.

The Blasters take on Punjab FC in the ISL at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Saturday. The Blasters aim for their first three points as they have lost four and drawn a match so far.