Kannur Warriors beat Forca Kochi 2-1 at Jawahar Municipal Stadium in Super League Kerala Round 3 on Oct 9, 2026
Kannur Warriors FC defeated Forca Kochi FC 2-1 at the Jawahar Municipal Stadium in Kannur on October 9, 2026, in the opening match of Round 3 of Super League Kerala 2026. The home side secured the win after goals from Bogdan Stamenkovic and Faslu Rahman, while Forca Kochi responded with a strike from Rahul Raju.
The match featured multiple attacking exchanges before Kannur opened the scoring late in the first half. Bogdan Stamenkovic headed home from a cross by Nijo Gilbert in the 39th minute to put the hosts ahead. Early in the second half Nijo Gilbert supplied another cross that, after a slight deflection off Renan, fell to Faslu Rahman who finished in the 49th minute to double the lead.
Forca Kochi replied within two minutes when Harshal Rahman’s cross found Rahul Raju, who tapped the ball into the net to cut the deficit. The visitors continued to push, with players including Rahul Raju and Enrique keeping pressure on Kannur’s defence, but they were unable to restore parity. Earlier in the game Kannur had threatened through a 6th-minute set-piece sequence in which Asier Gomes’ free-kick found Varo Alvarez, whose shot was saved by Jaimy Joy, and a later header from Salman went narrowly wide.
The contest turned late when Forca Kochi were reduced to ten men in the 87th minute after Nithin Madhu was shown a red card for a reaction to a Kannur player following a challenge. Ten-man Kochi could not overturn the deficit and the match finished 2-1 in favour of Kannur Warriors, ending Forca Kochi’s unbeaten run.
The result affected the Super League Kerala standings: Kannur Warriors moved to the top with 7 points and a goal difference of +2. Forca Kochi dropped one place and are listed with 5 points, tied on points with Calicut FC; the report states Calicut, with a superior goal difference of +2 compared to Kochi’s 0, occupy second position. The update also records Thiruvananthapuram Kombans with two points and a goal difference of -2.
The table further shows Malappuram FC and Thrissur Magic FC level on one point and a goal difference of -1; under the league’s third tie-breaking criterion the report places Malappuram (1 goal scored) above Thrissur Magic (0 goals) in fifth and sixth respectively. The coverage notes fans in India can watch the Malabar derby between Calicut FC and Malappuram FC on Zee5 and on Unite8 Sports, with Etisalat carrying Super League Kerala in the UAE.
The next fixtures listed are Thrissur Magic FC versus Calicut FC at the Corporation Stadium, Thrissur on October 10, and Thiruvananthapuram Kombans against Malappuram FC at the Chandrashekaran Nair Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on October 11.