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Post the glitz and glamour of the opening ceremony, the sixth season of the Indian Super League, ISL 2019/20 got underway with the home side Kerala Blasters taking on two-time champions ATK at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
Having endured a poor run in the previous edition, Kerala Blasters came into this season with a reshuffled squad under new coach Eelco Schattorie. The Dutchman, who had a scintillating spell at NorthEast United looked to raise the yellow brigade above the miseries of the last season as Kerala came into this match having strengthened their squad with the likes of Bartholomew Ogbeche, Mario Arques, Sergio Cidoncha among other promising names.
ATK, on the other hand, had had a story with close resemblance to that of Kerala Blasters after settling for a sixth-place finish in the 2018-19 season. ATK were also under the guidance of Antonio Habas, a familiar face who had helped the Kolkata side win the title in the inaugural season of the league. Also making the news for ATK was the introduction of players like the A-league top scorer Roy Krishna, David Williams, Micheal Soosairaj, Joby Justin, and other promising talents.
With a head to head record of five wins to two wins in favour of ATK, the clash promised to be a mouth-watering encounter to kickstart the 2019-20 season.
At the blow of the whistle, ATK opened the scoring courtesy a volley from centre-back Carl McHugh finding the back of the net that put ATK 1-0 up in the game, with the goal also recorded as the fastest goal in the inaugural match of the league’s history.
Kerala soon followed up with persistent attacks on goal and managed to break through twice before halftime, both scored by Captain Bartholomew Ogbeche, giving Blasters the lead at the break. The second half saw its fair share of attacks on both goals, but neither side managed to get the better of each other’s defence. With no goals scored in the second half, the match ended in a 2-1 win for the Blasters, their first against ATK in Kochi since 2016.
The game had its fair share of moments and here are the three reasons why Kerala won the game.
#3 Blasters defenders stand tall in absence of Sandesh Jhingan
The Kerala Blasters were dealt a massive blow ahead of the start of the campaign when their star defender Sandesh Jhingan was ruled out of the entire season after injuring himself in a friendly against NorthEast United. The absence of Jhingan did leave a big dent in Eelco Schattorie’s plans, but it seems the Blasters have been able to figure out a way to consolidate their defense.
In the absence of Jhingan, Eelco Schattorie started with an expected line-up of Jario and Gianni Zuiverloon at the center, with Mohammad Rakip and Jessel Carneiro covering the wings. Even though the Blasters received an early blow with McGuh’s goal in the 6th minute of the game, they were able to recover well for the rest of the match, especially in the second half. The ATK attack did pose a number of challenges but the defensive unit was able to deal with it well to prevent any loss of points from the game.
Although they would consider themselves a bit lucky to have gotten away with a couple of controversial decisions by the referee, at the end of it, they would be really happy to be able to hold a lethal ATK attack at bay.
The backline would really want to consolidate their partnership in the coming matches as it will be really intriguing to see how Schattorie manages to draw top performance from his defenders, especially in tough fixtures like Bengaluru and Goa.
#2 Bartholomew Ogbeche makes a big impression
Bartholomew Ogbeche was the star player for the NorthEast United last season, and it seems the same form could just be replicated for the Kerala Blasters this season. One of the most talked-about transfers this year, Ogbeche was roped in by the Blasters to consolidate their attack and he surely didn’t disappoint in the first match of the season.
The new Captain for the yellow outfit was straight into the action in the 30th minute of the game when the Blasters received a penalty, courtesy a silly challenge by Pranoy Halder inside the box. Ogbeche made no mistake to send the ball past the goalkeeper, bringing about the much-needed equaliser. Minutes later, just before halftime, Ogbeche was again at the right place to score a decisive goal.
Prasanth Karuthadathkuni drilled a cross into the box and just as Pranoy Halder looked to clear the ball away, the latter made a complete mess in his attempt as the ball landed only inches away from Ogbeche's right foot as the striker made most use of the chance and struck the ball past the ATK custodian and into the right corner to bring about a 2-1 lead for the Blasters.
In the end, the two goals sufficed to salvage three crucial points for the Blasters against a tough ATK side. The 35-yr old Nigerian will certainly play a crucial role in the Blasters' persuit for a top 4 finish this season.
#1 Poor refereeing all through the encounter
As we embark on the sixth season of the ISL, we have seen an emergence of new sides, new players, new staff members, or even new rules from season to season. However, what has remained the same over the years has been the poor standard of refereeing that continues to bewilder both the fans and the players.
The refereeing in the first match of the new season continued from the abyss of low standards that we left off in the last season. When Micheal Soosairaj was caught on the attack inside the penalty box of the Blasters half, it never looked more obvious, even on television, that ATK deserved a kick from the penalty spot.
However, referee Ramaswamy Srikrishna, standing just a few meters away couldn’t find it convincing enough to be given a penalty and let the play go on, which ultimately resulted in Blasters equalising.
A few minutes later, David Williams’ goal was called offside while the replays showed a different story. The forward had beaten the last line of defense to be completely unmarked for a shot to the goal, which eventually ended at the back of the net. Few more instances happened where the decisions were questionable to a considerable degree. But overall, two clear penalties and one wrongly called offside were enough to separate Blasters' 3 points to ATK’s 0.
It’s absolutely appalling to see such a lower standard of refereeing in a league which is trying to build its brand on the premise of quality football. At the present it is anything but that.
