Author: KBFC-Media

Kolkata : In last evening’s ISL fixture, Kerala Blasters secured three points in their away game against East Bengal FC with a 2-1 scoreline.

Kerala Blasters went into the contest with a largely unchanged starting line-up from their last game against Odisha FC with only difference being Rahul KP making way for striker Dimitrios Diamantakos.

The game started off with both teams looking to stamp their authority, which lead to the game being played with a certain degree of physicality which earned both teams two yellow cards each within the first quarter of the game.

However the visiting team didn’t allow this to effect their gameplan, as the midfield combination of Adrian Luna with Daisuke Sakai build an attack through the heart of the East Bengal defence leading to Daisuke putting a ball from Luna into the back of the net in the 34th minute, registering his first goal in Kerala Blasters colors.

KBFC continued pressing through the rest of the first half, giving literally no access to East Bengal to work their way upto into Blasters’ half of the pitch.

East Bengal came into the second half with three substitutions and renewed vigour to attack and test the resolute Kerala Blasters defence led by the experienced Pritam Kotal.

Despite East Bengal having greater amount of possession and more shots at the goal, the Blasters held on and nulfied every attempt from the Torchbearers to make a comeback into the game.

The resistance was eventually shaken when in the 85th minute Kerala Blasters FC conceded a penalty which was taken by East Bengal skipper Cleiton Silva. However goalkeeper Sachin Suresh rose to the occasion and saved the penalty with a lot of composure.

This moment was utilised by the Blasters unit to counter-attack in numbers soon transpiring into Dimitrios Diamantakos sealing the game in favour of the Blasters with a goal in the 89th minute.

However Diamantakos was penalized with a second yellow card for the game soon after scoring, when he took off his jersey to celebrate his goal.

Thereafter in the dying moments of the game, Blasters conceded another penalty due to a handball error in the box from full-back Sandeep Singh, this time Silva put the ball into the goal with the final whistle following soon after.

The three points earned from this fixture took the Blasters to 13 points from 6 games making them table toppers in the ISL points tally, underlining the consistency shown by the team.

Kerala Blasters will now be looking to continue this momentum when they play their next ISL fixture in Kochi on the 25th November against Hyderabad FC.

Substitutions

Mohammed Aimen [IN] – [OUT] Daisuke Sakai 90+5′

Rahul KP [IN] – [OUT] Kwame Peprah 79′

Mohammed Azhar [IN] – [OUT] Danish Farooq 62′

Kochi : Kerala Blasters made a gritty comeback in the 2nd half of their 5th ISL encounter for the season against a very well marshalled Odisha FC side to secure all 3 points, taking the team to second on the League table with 10 points.

Odisha FC’ Sergio Lobera and Kerala Blasters’ returning manager Ivan Vukomanović both employed a 4-4-2 formation but it was Odisha FC who got off the blocks quicker, they built continuous pressure which led to Brazilian striker Diego Maurício driving the Juggernauts into an early lead.

The home team created chances of their own, but Kwame Peprah and Rahul KP’s attacks were nullified by a resolute Odisha FC defense, who constantly threw their bodies into the line of multiple shots to deny the Blasters parity in the game.

In the 21st minute of the match, Naocha Singh conceded a penalty due to a handball incident in his box, however young goalkeeper Sachin Suresh denied the penalty from Diego Maurício and a following rebound shot to disallow Odisha FC gaining further footing in the game.

From there on there was a visible shift in momentum, with the vocal home crowd getting involved in the game, which in return opened the game further for KBFC to build up a counter-attack, however the score was still 1-0 in favour of the visitors at half-time.

Soon into the half-time, coach Ivan Vukomanovic introduced midfielder Freddy Lallawmawma and striker Dimitrios Diamantakos into the game and the Greek international scored the equaliser off a ball into the box from Daisuke Sakai in 66th minute of the game, visibly rattling the vistors which led to many errors on the part of Odisha FC earning them as many five yellow cards for the game.

Blasters didn’t relinquish this advantage and constantly peppered the Odisha FC defense in search of that winning goal, which eventually came from an Adrian Luna attack in the 84th minute when he curled a ball into the top left corner of Odisha FC’ goal, a shot that sailed over the defense and keeper’s reach making all of the home crowd erupt in joy.

It was a massive comeback to overcome the early jitters and rally around in the second half of the game to mount the comeback that was displayed by the Blasters, Ivan Vukomanović’s tactical imprints were also clearly visible in the way he maneuvered his squad through timely substitutionsin the game’s second half.

Kerala Blasters next will play their second away game of this ISL season in Kolkata against East Bengal on 4th November, with victories such as this one providing the necessary belief in the whole squad to face the challenges ahead.

Substitutions

Freddy Lallawmawma [IN] – [OUT] Vibin Mohanan 58′

Dimitrios Diamantakos [IN] – [OUT] Rahul KP 58′

Mohammed Aimen [IN] – [OUT] Daisuke Sakai 70′

Ishan Pandita [IN] – [OUT] Kwame Peprah 81′

Mohammed Azhar [IN] – [OUT] Freddy Lallawmawma 81′

Kochi : In last evening’s ISL fixture, Kerala Blasters were denied three points during their third home match of the season by Northeast United FC as they held the Blasters to a 1-1 draw.

Kerala Blasters started the contest with their usual 4-4-2 formation against Northeast United FC’s 5-3-2 combination.

As the game began, the home team held much of the possession and consistently attacked the opposition’s goal, but just missed gaining the lead by a slim margin.

However in the 12th minute the Highlanders gained a lead through Spaniard Néstor Albiach who worked a goal into the lower half of the Blasters net to give his team an advantage.

With four foreign players playing in their attacking half of the formation, the Blasters began to develop momentum through their attacks, changing the game’s momentum. Northeast United FC, however, went into half-time with a one-goal lead intact as the equaliser remained elusive for the Blasters.

In the second half the Blasters entered without any changes to the XI, but with renewed intensity the home-team broke the defense of the Highlanders through a set-piece led by skipper Adrian Luna whose free-kick into the Northeast United box was deflected into the goal by a precise header from Danish Farooq, making him register another goal to back his goal against Mumbai City FC in Kerala Blasters’ last fixture.

The game continued with aggressive momentum with Highlanders raking up as many as four yellow cards, whereas Kerala Blasters managed a sole yellow card through Rahul KP in the closing stages of the game.

Eventually after a closely contested tussle, both teams ended the game with a 1-1 scoreline, with the highlight of the game being the aggressive play with lack of shot accuracy not allowing either team to have a decisive edge in the game.

Kerala Blasters FC will now step-out for their next ISL fixture on 27th October against Odisha FC in Kochi. The game holds specific importance as it will be the game where Blasters head coach Ivan Vukamanovic will mark his return to the sidelines managing his team after serving his 10 match disciplinary ban.

Substitutions

Mohammed Aimen [OUT] – [IN] Daisuke Sakai 70′

Ishan Pandita [IN] – [OUT] Dimitrios Diamantakos 79′

Freddy Lallawmawma [IN] – [OUT] Vibin Mohanan 85′

Rahul KP [IN] – [OUT] Kwame Peprah 85′