Kerala Blasters romp to 4-1 win against NorthEast United in Assam

Kerala Blasters were in full flow as 2 goals from Chris Dagnall were the catalyst in their 4-1 thrashing of NorthEast United. Antonio German too had a splendid outing scoring and assisting freely to boost his side.

NorthEast United resumed their home leg of matches with stupendous fan following as Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati saw full house attendance. Cesar Farias made seven changes into line up, and much to the joy of the home fans, local boy Alen Deory made his first starting of the season. Kamara and Dadzie sat out as they made way for Nicholas Velez and Sanju Pradhan.

Kerala too made four changes into the squad Antonio German coming in for injured Sanchez Watt, while Sandesh Jhinghan and Cavin Lobo made their return after their national duty.

First Half

Things did not at all go as the fans expected it to be for the home side. Chris Dagnall went on to score the fastest goal of the tournament netting from an Antonio German assist within the first 25 seconds of the match. Much to the joy of the handful Kerala Blasters supporters, the goal left the NorthEast defence in tatters.

0.27, 0.28, GOAL!, 0.30.... Dagnall today scored the fastest goal of the #HeroISL! #NEUvKER #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/7II2lsIxhe

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) November 15, 2015

The first real chance for the home team came in the 13th minute when Sandesh Jhingan fouled Simao right at the edge of the box. The left footed former Portugal national team midfielder curled a beautiful ball off the free kick which Hengbart headed on target, only to be saved brilliantly by the Kerala keeper, Stephen Bywater. This free kick was a result of the incessant pressing which NorthEast managed in the last 10 minutes, unlike their style of play.

But the heartbreak was just minutes away for NorthEast as in the 20th minute; a defensive error gifted Cavin Lobo an easy chance off a Mehtab Hussain free kick, which the India international took full advantage to give Kerala a two-goal cushion.

There were occasional sparks in between for NorthEast, but, of course they could not convert any of them. NorthEast had five free kicks in the first half, all of which were taken by Simao, but none of it was of any help to the home team.

Local boy Alen tried a long ranger in the 33rd minute, but it went flying high onto the crowd. Sanju Pradhan in the 42nd minute had an opportunity but again the ball sailed over the bar.

Kerala too pressed hard towards the end of the half earning back to back corners, forcing Farias to come out of the box and yell at players, only to be warned by the linesman. Both teams went into the dressing room after the first half with the home team trailing by two goals.

Second Half

The match resumed with NorthEast United making their first change of the day, brining in Hanghal in place of Alen. But things did not change at all for the Highlanders as the Kerala defence remained stout. On the other hand, the NorthEast defence was completely out of order today. In the 51st minute there was a horrible mix up between Rehenesh TP and Khongjee, leaving the post dangerously wide open.

The Peter Ramage led Kerala defence was clinical today with them making beautiful interceptions of almost every NorthEast cross. The home side went all in with attack as Silas, Simao, Velez and even Hengbert played ahead with Bikey. But it looked like at almost all of Farias’ tactics held no water in front of the Kerala defence.

Marquee player Simao was taken off in the 69th minute making way for Kamara. It did create a little impact up ahead with him making a beautiful chance in the 71st minute, only for the Bywater to save.

But it was all a repeat of NorthEast’s first match of the season, only this time being worse as in a span of a minute Kerala scored two goals. In the 74th minute, an unmarked Antonio German pulled one back into the net off a Josu cross. Two minutes later Dagnall scored a beautiful goal to complete his brace. This the second instance when the Highlanders have conceded four goals. The ‘power of eight’, then had a goal difference of -8.

In the dying moments of the match Nicholas Velez was did pull on back for NorthEast off a solo run. But the damage was already done with the home team showing a pathetic display in front of 27,432 fans. The only joyous group were those handful fans of the yellow brigade who saw their team coming back on track after a bad run.