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In a return to his previous stomping ground, Steve Coppell led Jamshedpur FC out at the home of the Kerala Blasters in Kochi and came away with a draw. It was a second successive goalless draw for both of these teams in ISL 2017 - the Blasters having drawn 0-0 against ATK in the season opener and Jamshedpur doing the same in the tournament's second game against NorthEast United.
There had been only two goalless draws in this year's competition previously and both these sides were involved. So the result wasn't entirely surprising. No goals in this one, but not exactly a drab encounter. Here's what stood out from the game.
#1 More touches for Berba
One of the things that Rene Meulensteen would not have been happy about after the Blasters' first game against ATK was how involved marquee signing Dimitar Berbatov was. Berbatov is playing in a deeper, playmaking role behind the front three this season with the Blasters and in the opener, he received very few touches of the ball causing him much frustration.
Tonight, it looked like that Meulensteen had made it clear to his side to get the Bulgarian more involved. In the first 25 minutes of the game, he probably received more touches of the ball than what he had done in the entirety of the first match.
Though the Blasters didn't get the win they would have hoped for, it looked like they had addressed one of the shortcomings from the last game.
#2 Both sides miss their big chances
The Blasters were yet to open their goal-scoring account coming into this game and in the 10th minutes, they had a glorious chance to do so. Iain Hume, moving out wide on the right, picked up a ball from his midfield and delivered a pin-point cross to CK Vineeth at the far post.
The Kerala man, usually so reliant with his head and in the box, looked like he was going to give his side the lead, but didn't get his contact right and the ball went harmlessly over the bar. It was a very good chance for Vineeth, the likes of which we've seen him put away in the past.
Jamshedpur too had their big chance in the first half. After Sandesh Jhingan fouled his former teammate Kervens Belfort just outside of the box, Memo stepped up to take the ensuing free-kick.
His pacy effort found it's way past the wall and was padded away by Blasters keeper Paul Rachubka. The keeper's parry though fell to Jerry Mawhmingthanga who was following up on the free-kick. The youngster looked surprised at the chance and didn't get a good contact on the rebound. Had he done so, it would have been a certain goal with the keeper beaten. Belfort went close too late in the game, but that wasn't exactly a miss.
#3 Berba and Mehtab go at it
Mehtab Hossain is Steve Coppell's enforcer-in-chief nuisance artist. That was his role with the Blasters previously and it's the same this year for his new side Jamshedpur. It was expected that he was going to get the assignment of marking the talented Berbatov. It looked like he'd been given the brief of sticking with Berbatov throughout, making things difficult for the Bulgarian.
Mehtab though was all over the Bulgarian at times, kicking him in the shin, snapping away at his ankles and even jumping onto him at times. But he couldn't shake Berbatov as he managed to keep possession for much of the game despite Mehtab's best efforts. At one point, with Mehtab kicking him quite a few times, Berbatov even taunted him to have another go, all the while keeping the ball beautifully.
It was a classic game-within-a-game to watch the two go at it. Mehtab was eventually booked in the 56th minute for one foul too many. Berbatov took picked up a yellow later, for shoving aside Mehtab. So this contest ended even too like the scoreline.
#4 Good return for former Blasters
Coppell. Belfort. Mehtab - all former Blasters returned to the cauldron that is Kochi with their new side. It was a second straight goalless draw and a second away point for Jamshedpur. With two away games to start their campaign, perhaps Coppell was happy with the two points and with no losses.
All three former Blasters enjoyed a good return to Kerala. Coppell probably got the point he wanted. Belfort worked tirelessly all night, as he used to do for the Blasters. He showed great commitment tracking back as well, often playing the role of an auxiliary left-back as Jamshedpur fell back and got numbers behind the ball. Mehtab did the dirty work that his coach and teammates asked of him, putting enough pressure on the Blasters' most creative players and plugging holes in midfield.
They almost stole the game too towards the end, the best chance of the night falling to them. With regulation time almost done, Belfort made a superb contact in the box with a header off Trindade Goncalves's cross that needed Rachubka's intervention to keep it out.
All in all, it was a good return for the former Blasters as they were possibly the happier side at the end of 90 minutes.
#5 Two games, no goals
The Blasters became one of the most talked about sides ahead of this season's ISL after the players they signed. On paper, they represented one of the strongest sides in the competition. However, they're yet to score a goal for all of that talent in their squad.
They've had both their games thus far at home in front of their boisterous supporters. However, they haven't been able to make it count and they now have just two points from their first two home games. We have seen sides suffer for not making the most of their home games in the past and the Blasters will be hoping that these draws are the result of some early season struggles.
In their defence, they've not been helped by the opposition. ATK are always a difficult team to beat and Jamshedpur are basically what the Blasters were last season under Coppell, set up not to lose, men behind the ball and tough to fashion chances against.
That being said, the Blasters simply haven't done enough to create as many chances as they would have liked. Jamshedpur, with just 35% possession and almost half as many passes as their opponents, had more shots on target with five compared to the Blasters' two.
