SLK 2026: Forca Kochi outmuscle Calicut FC, go top of the table

Forca Kochi’s Renan Rocha Araujo, in the centre, challenged by the Calicut FC defenders and the waterlogged field in the Super League Kerala football match. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh

Today’s atmosphere at the Corporation Stadium spoke of how the Super League Kerala has captured the imagination of the football fans, despite being a sorry sight. Braving steady rain, the fans waited for the match between Calicut FC and Forca Kochi to kick off.

Some of those spectators in the stands were wearing raincoats, but many weren’t. And they were in for a long wait. The game did not start for an hour after the scheduled kickoff.

Once the match did get underway, it was the turn of the players to get frustrated. There was so much water on the ground that the surface would have been more suitable for water polo than football.

But the brave men on either side still managed to produce an interesting game of football, risking possible injuries. The Kochi men won 3-0 and go ahead of Calicut on top of the table: the two teams have 11 points each, while Forca are ahead on goal difference.

Calicut was forced to play most of the second half with 10 men after goalkeeper K. Mirshad was sent off. He was penalised for a bad tackle after venturing too far out of the box.

The hosts went a goal down when Alan Saji put Forca ahead, giving the finishing touch to a superb low cross from Rahul Raju, who stormed into the box beating the defence.

Rahul himself got into the act of scoring in the second half, moving the net twice.

The result

The result: Calicut FC 0 lost to Forca Kochi 3 (Alan Saji 37, Rahul Raju 80 & 88).