Northeast United FC 1 – 1 Kerala Blasters FC

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′