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The second match of the Indian Super League featured Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United FC in a full house Indira Gandhi stadium in Guwahati. The NorthEast franchise clinched a slender victory over the Sachin Tendulkar owned franchise. Their Spanish recruit Sergio Pardo scored in the dying ends of the first half which was enough to seal their win in a match which saw both teams create many decent chances, and saw great enthusiasm from the crowd. Tzorvas was the hero for the home side, as he kept out everything that was thrown at him by the opposition.
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Kerala dominated possession in the first half
It is fair to say that Kerala Blasters dominated the ball which is reflected in their 57% ball possession. The Blasters’ captain, Nigerian Penn Orji started the proceedings in a great manner as he controlled the game from the midfield. They played smooth passing football, keeping the ball.
Ricki Herbert’s side mostly depended upon speedy counter attacks. In the 32nd minute, local boy Durga Boro took a blinder of a shot from 30 yards which was saved by Kerala’s marquee player David James. In the 45th minute, NorthEast got a throw in, which was unconvincingly cleared by Blasters defender Gurwinder Singh. Koke received the ball with ease and blasted the ball on the half-volley into the net. Except for the soft clearance, Gurwinder was exceptional, clearing every ball which came his way.
NorthEast resisted strongly in the second half
In the second half, Blasters started dominating yet again but their attacks were not fruitful as midfielder Penn Orji became ineffective.The pace of the match also decreased as both the team slowed down their proceedings.
In search of an equalising goal, assistant coach, Trevor Morgan made two changes in the 65th minute . The ineffective CS Sabeeth was replaced by Saumik Dey and midfielder Stephen Pearson replaced by the experienced Michael Chopra.
The changes almost worked, as Hume saw his lob cleared off the line, while Chopra saw his rebound blocked on the line.
Later he added an extra striker to the attack force, bringing in Australian Andrew Barisic. Kerala got a few half chances which were missed by Michael Chopra. Iain Hume got probably the best opportunity in the dying stages of the game from a swiftly taken Andrew Barisic throw but failed to finish from an acute angle in a one on one situation with Tzorvas.
NorthEast, on the other hand, got an opportunity to seal the match in the dying stages as South Korean Dong blazed into the Kerala Blazers penalty box, forcing David James to come out and clear the ball. Milan Singh got the ball in the middle of the field and attempted a shot into the empty net. Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar and the rebound was blazed over.
Overall both the teams played impressive football and it was an entertaining game to watch. In the next games, North East United host Atletico de Kolkata while Kerala Blasters visit Chennai to take on Chennaiyin FC in the South India’s derby game.
