GAME REPORT
The rainy night at Bambolim witnessed the clash between Kerala Blasters FC and Odisha FC. In the hard-fought match, results weren’t favoured for our team as the match ended in a 2-4 defeat for our Yellow Army.
Our Head coach Kibu Vicuña stuck on to his traditional 4-3-3 formation. Kibu showed faith in our Indian defenders as he fielded an all Indian back line against the Kalinga warriors last night. Our boys fired the first blow early in the 7th minute with a tight finish from our Aussie Sniper Jordan Murray from an almost impossible angle. Jordan took advantage of the spill from Arshdeep Singh to score his 3rd goal in the yellow outfit. But our boys couldn’t hold to the lead for much time as Diego Mauricio’s shot deflected off Jeakson Singh and gave Odisha FC the equalizer in the 22nd minute. And in the 42nd minute, Odisha FC utilized a set-piece well and Steven Taylor scored the second goal for the Juggernauts. Even though our boys pressed hard till the end of the half time, we couldn’t beat the opposition goalkeeper.
The second half started with Odisha FC gaining control over the game. The Brazilian striker Diego scored 2 quick goals in the 50th minute and 60th minute for the Kalinga warriors. Kibu tried to alter the flow of the game with some changes but the players were unable to take their chances. Englishmen Gary Hooper who came on as a substitute, got a goal back in the 76th minute. But that wasn’t enough to set a comeback as it ended 2-4 at full time.
After the match, our coach addressed the fans by saying, “I’m sorry fans for the performance. I’m completely responsible for the result. After this match, it’s tough to take an opinion or decision and also the next step. I don’t like excuses and I don’t want to complain. I take all the responsibility for the poor performance. In football, you have to keep going. I believe that this team can play better, for sure. As of now, we have to recover from this loss and focus on the next match. We have to improve everywhere, including tactical and emotional aspects.”
KBFC (4-3-3): Albino Gomes (GK), Sandeep Singh Soraisham, Nishu Kumar, Jordan Murray, Facundo Pereyra, Jessel Carneiro, Thounaojam Jeakson Singh, Rahul K P, Sahal Abdul Samad, Abdul Hakku, Vicente Gomez
SUBS: Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Bakary Kone, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Rohit Kumar, Givson Singh, Ritwik Kumar Das, Yendrembam Denechandram Meitei, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Gary Hooper
OFC (4-4-2): Arshdeep Singh (GK), Hendry Antony, Cole Alexander, Diego Mauricio Machado De Brito, Gaurav Bora, Vinit Rai, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Jacob Tratt, Nandha Kumar, Manuel Onwu, Steven Taylor
SUBS:Mohd Sajid Dhot, Paul Ramfangzauva, Marcelo Leite Pereira, Saurabh Meher, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Shubham Sarangi, Kamaljit Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, Laishram Premjit Singh
