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NorthEast United FC cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win over Kerala Blasters in their final Group B fixture in the Kalinga Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, January 20.
The Highlanders were clearly the better of the two sides on offer and constantly pushed the Kerala defense to its brink. Parthib Gogoi opened the scoring for NorthEast in just the second minute of the game when he found plenty of space to work behind the Kerala high line.
In the 68th minute, Mohammed Bemmamer weaved a ball past a tight-looking wall from a free kick to give his team a two-goal advantage. About two minutes later, Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos beat NorthEast goalkeeper Dipesh Chauhan on the near post to pull one back for the Blasters.
NorthEast United were the better side by some distance
The game seemed to have opened up with twenty minutes plus stoppage time still on the clock. However, Redeem Tiang found the back of the net for the Highlanders five minutes later and pushed the advantage further towards them.
When Jithin M.S lopped the ball into the open net for his first goal in the 79th minute, even the loudest of the Kerala Blasters' supporters, and there were quite a few on this chilly night in Bhubaneswar, went quiet.
Kerala Blasters will be extremely disappointed with this loss given that this gives them poor momentum going into the second phase of the ISL. They lead the table at the moment with 26 points to their name but things can change after the winter break.
NorthEast, on the other hand, will be extremely pleased to win this match as it will give their youngsters the confidence that they can perform to their best potential against a well-established Kerala Blasters side.
