Player Ratings: Kerala Blasters 3-1 North East United FC

Stephen Bywater Kerala Blasters

Peter Taylor’s spirited Kerala team had the perfect start to their campaign with a 3-1 win over North East United FC in their fast match of the season.

Young Spanish talent Josu Currias opened the scoring for the home team with a thunderous volley in the first half. Mohammad Rafi doubled the lead through a neat header and substitute Sanchez Watt provided the cherry on the cake with the third goal. Nicolas Velez, who worked relentlessly throughout the game scored a consolation goal for the North East side with a peach of a finish.

Here are the player ratings from today’s match:

Kerala Blasters FC

Stephen Bywater - 7/10

The experienced keeper who has plyed his trade with a number of English clubs throughout his career was impressive. His commanding presence at the back for the home side provided for confidence to his defence line. He made a brilliant one on one save from Nicolas Velez early in the first half.

Rahul Bheke - 7/10

Young right back Bheke was a live wire in the field. It was his two long throws which brought the goals for the Blasters team. Other than this his work rate he kept the right side of the team very active throughout the game.

Bruno Perone- 6/10

Perone did not have much to do today since Marcus Williams covered the central defence brilliantly. But Perone and the other defenders of Kerala were very organised. They played the offside trap magnificently, tricking Nicolas Velez repeatedly in the first half.

Peter Ramage - 6/10

Experienced Ramage was equally good in Kerala’s deep defence. He kept moving up during set pieces and corners. His brilliant effort from a corner kick was saved well by Rehenesh TP.

Marcus Williams- 7.5/10

Well built English centre back, Williams was a standout performer in the defence of the Blasters side today. He was very disciplined and led his fellow defenders brilliantly. He was hardly beaten by the aerial crosses. Rock solid at the heart of the defence.

Peter Carvalho - 5.5/10

Despite being a right back he started in a more advanced position. The experienced Goan defender tried his best to cover gaps in the field but he was relatively poor. He needs more time to adapt to the new position. An injury which seemed quite serious forced him off the field right before the final whistle.

C.Vineeth - 6.5/10

He operated on well the left side for his team. Vineeth provided the assist for Kerala’s first goal when his attempted overhead kick helped the ball to Josu who scored a scorcher of a goal. Although he made a number of technical errors. Inconsistent performance by him.

Mehtab Hussain - 7.5/10

Currently one of the best central midfielders in the country, he started on the left wing. But he kept cutting into the center of the midfield where he showcased a brilliant performance. From winning 50-50 balls to providing lethal long balls, he was one of the standout performers in today’s game.

Josu Currias Kerala Blasters

Josu Currias - 8/10

Man of the match, the young Spanish midfielder was instrumental. He used all the tricks from his bag, from stepovers to soft touches to one on ones, we saw everything from this lad. But undoubtedly the best moment of the match came when he thundered a volley from almost 30 yards into the top corner of the net. He could be the find of this year’s tournament.

Mohammad Rafi - 6/10

Rafi started today's game as an out and out striker. He is known for his opportunist strikes and we saw one of them when he outjumped the North East defenders to score from a long throw. Other than that he was finding it tough to hold on to the ball. It was his through ball which Watt converted.

Christopher Dagnall - 5/10

Dagnall hardly influenced the game and had to be substituted right after half time. Although the English striker started in the attacking area, he kept dropping back to the midfield. He was not able to adapt to Platt’s tactics and was struggling in the game.

Subs:

Sanchez Watt - 7/10

Watt who has played for Arsenal in the Premier League, scored a brilliant goal slipping the ball right between the legs of Rehenesh T.P. after coming on to the field. Extremely fit and hard working Watt along with Josu can create havoc to any defence if they click together.

Joao Coimbra - 5/10

The Portuguese midfielder replaced Josu in holding midfield. Of the ten minutes that he was on the field, Coimbra mainly played as defensive midfielder since protecting the lead was Platt’s primary objective in the dying minutes.

Gurwinder Singh – N/A

Singh came in at the last second when Peter Carvalho had to be stretchered out with a hamstring injury.

Siam Hangal NorthEast United

North East United FC

Rehenesh T.P. – 6/10

Even though the young find of last year’s ISL conceded a poor goal from Watt in the second half, he played with a lot of confidence throughout the game. Rehenesh made a string of excellent saves especially one from C.K Vineeth in the second half. There was no way he could have stopped Josu’s goal.

Reagan Singh - 5.5/10

Coming back to his position after overlapping became a problem for him as he lost his position every time he went up. He should have caught Watt who was left unmarked during the decisive third goal for Kerala.

Cedric Hengbart - 6/10

The experienced French defender tried his best to keep the defence intact but it was not his day today. He forced a good save from Bywater from a header in the last few minutes of the game.

Miguel Garcia ISl injury

Miguel Garcia - 5/10

The leader of the team, Garcia’s injury was a turning point of the match. NorthEast United fielded a team designed around Miguel and he had the pivotal role to lead the young players of the team. When he had to be taken off early in the first half with an injury, the whole NorthEast team became wayward. There was no one else who could step up to organise the team in all sections.

Seityasen Singh - 5/10

The standout performer for Royal Wahingdoh in the I-League last season was one of the top picks of this year’s drafts. Although his today’s performance was disappointing. Playing as a right back, the Manipuri defender can be deemed responsible for the second goal when Rafi outjumped him. During the third goal again it was his poor pass which Rafi pounced upon before providing the lethal through ball that Watt converted from.

Siam Hanghal - 5.5/10

The young Bengaluru FC prodigy was not very influential. He was very average through the game. Playing in the center of the midfield he was all over the park. Other than a perfect through ball in the first half for Velez, he lacked a good final ball and kept losing possession. The position he played him needed someone more aggressive and this is something that he needs to work on.

Bruno Arias - 5/10

Argentine winger Bruno was almost unnoticed throughout the match. Although starting well he lost his flow especially in the second half. It was a surprise that the winger was not taken off the field.

Silas - 6/10

Silas provided a perfect pass for Velez down the wing in the last minutes of the game. He tried to combine with Kamara couple of times but like the other attacking players of the team, he lacked creativity.

Diomansy Kamara- 7/10

One of the best players for the North East team today, he played his heart out. It was because of his efforts that they were creating a number of moves right in the first half. But with time he lost support in the midfield which in turn made the midfield more static for the visitors.

Boithang Haokip- 5/10

The Lajong midfielder started as the strike partner for Velez. But with change in proceedings, he shifted to the left wing. With Haokip and Velez shifting to the respective flanks, the team lacked presence of a positive striker throughout the game. Playing him in the left wing right from the start could have been more effective.

Velez- 7.5/10

The most hard working player for NorthEast United, he scored a brilliant goal in the second half. Although it was a team move but the finish was top class. Again Velez was more comfortable on the right wing rather than in the central striker position.

Subs:

Sanju Pradhan- 6.5/10

The experienced midfielder might not be a regular in the club circuit now, but his work rate is still the same as it used to be. Coming on early in the match, he ran his lungs out covering each and every position for the team. He even kept switching flanks but there was nothing effective from all of this hard work that he put into the game. But his performance today can be the only positive point for Farias from the game.

Francis Dadzie- 5/10

The Ghanian striker was brought on at the end as an out an out striker by Farias when everything else seemed lost. He was not at all influential with hardly any effective moves created by him.

Robin Gurung – N/A

He came on during the injury time of the second half. The Sikkim defender hardly had any time to effect the game.

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Edited by Staff Editor