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Kerala Blasters registered their first win of ISL 2017 with a slender but hard fought 1-0 victory over NorthEast United on Friday. Local boy CK Vineeth scored the only goal of the night courtesy a bullet header.
Here are the player ratings for Friday's encounter:
Kerala Blasters FC
Paul Rachubka 5/10 - Kerala's keeper hardly had anything to do. Paul burnt minimal calories tonight and did the simple things right.
Lalruatthara 6/10 - With Rino Anto marauding forward down the right, Lalruatthara adopted a far more conservative approach down the left. He was always available when his midfielders needed a passing outlet. Hit the post in the second half.
Nemanja Lakic-Pesic 6/10 - Partnered up with Jhingan extremely well. He cleverly slowed down the game when NorthEast were desperate to get back into it.
Wes Brown 7/10 - Playing as a central defensive midfielder, the former Manchester United man's versatility was present for all to see. Brown kept it simple, won headers and provided some much-needed cushion to his back line.
Sandesh Jhingan 8/10 - Kerala's captain led from the front. He initiated his side's opening goal. More importantly, Jhingan was snapping at the heels of the opposition strikers and refused to let them ponder on the ball.
Rino Anto 9/10 - Delivered a splendid ball for CK Vineeth's bullet header. The right-back was solid throughout the game and his inch-perfect cross for Vineeth was a reward for the positivity he displayed all night long. Made a stunning last-ditch tackle to deny the visitors a sure shot goal.
CK Vineeth 9/10 - Kerala's local boy returned to the starting 11 tonight and put a smile on the fans face with an amazing diving header. That goal had world class written all over it. He continues to prove how important he is.
Siam Hanghal 6/10 - Tonight Hangal played deep in his own half and broke up play extremely well.
Jackichand Singh 6/10 - Helped Pekuson load the right wing with numbers but wasn't as effective.
Mark Sifneos 6/10 - The in-form striker attempted to make inroads but struggled for most parts of the match. He made some clever runs, ran hard and caught NEUFC's back line sleeping on more than one occasion.
Courage Pekuson 7/10 - The midfielder was Kerala's unsung hero tonight. Pekuson covered every blade of grass in the opposition half. Positioned centrally, he made multiple runs down the right wing and left and aided well in attack.
Substitutes
Milan Singh 4/10 - Came on for Jackichand Singh for the final twenty minutes of the match and did well to keep the attack going down the right.
Ian Hume NA - Was introduced with two minutes remaining and made his 50th appearance in the ISL tonight.
NorthEast United FC
TP Rehenesh 2/10 - Received a red card in the first half for his mindless tackle on Mark Sifneos. That was his only contribution tonight.
Sambinha 4/10 - The centre-back made it far too easy for Kerala. He was slow to react to the through balls and found himself in all sorts of undesirable situations.
Nirmal Chettri 4/10 - The right back's positioning was all over the place and Vineeth gave him a torrid time with his clever movements and runs.
Jose Goncalves 6/10 - The captain didn't do much wrong tonight. However, he was let down by his teammates in the backline. You could argue he could have done better to stop Vineeth's header.
Seiminlen Doungel 4/10 - Apart from making a couple of crunching tackles, the winger failed to impress.
Marcinho 6/10 - Marcinho tried and tried extremely hard to find an opening. He was a livewire on the left wing and whipped in numerous crosses. Unfortunately, the quality was missing.
Halicharan Narzary 3/10 - Just as he was beginning to get into his groove, Narzary was sacrificed for the second goalkeeper. It was a pity.
Reagan Singh 4/10 - The left-back was consistently targeted tonight. As the game progressed, Kerala kept loading numbers down his flank and he couldn't do much to stop the onslaught.
Rowllin Borges 4/10 - The midfielder was a shadow of his usual self. He failed to impose himself in the middle of the park and looked a tad flat tonight.
Martin Diaz 3/10 - Known to keep things under check, every time Kerala attacked, Martin Diaz found himself chasing the players rather than intercepting passes.
Danilo Lopes 6/10 - Made some clever runs in and around the box. His close control in tight spaces enabled him to include his teammates into the attack. The striker was arguably the best player for the Highlanders tonight.
Substitutes
Ravi Kumar - 5/10 - The substitute goalkeeper made some decent saves and ensured his side were always in with a chance.
Luis Alfonso 2/10 - Came on for Marcinho didn't do much to impact proceedings.
Fortes 6/10 - Replaced the captain for the final fifteen minutes of the match and Fortes created some real danger inside Kerala's box in the final minutes of the game.
