SC East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters FC: Who won yesterday's match?

SC East Bengal stole a point right at the death to force a 1-1 draw against Kerala Blasters FC in the 59th match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama, Goa.

Kerala Blasters FC had led till stoppage time through a Jordan Murray strike but a defensive lapse towards the end meant that Scott Neville scored his first ISL goal with a header.

It was Kerala Blasters FC who started well and managed to opened up SC East Bengal’s defense quite easily. Gary Hooper played a pass to Facundo Pereyra on the left flank and the Argentinian sent in a low cross to the middle. However, Jordan Murray lost his footing as the Yellow Army lost out on an early chance.

A few minutes later, Jessel Carneiro came up with a long diagonal ball to Murray but he sent in a very weak shot at Debjit Majumder.

At the other end, Harmanpreet Singh got a golden opportunity to score when Milan Singh came up with a through ball down the middle. Unfortunately for SC East Bengal, Harmanpreet failed to connect with the ball properly and Albino Gomes got down to his right to make an easy save. Kerala Blasters FC got some chances on their own but Vicente Gomez failed to direct his headers on target.

East Bengal star player Bright Enobakhare then got into the game and unleashed a shot that went wide of the target. As the match got closer to the first cooling break, Kerala Blasters FC got a few set-pieces but they failed to make the most of them. Even after the break, Kerala Blasters FC got a free-kick on the left flank but Pereyra failed to control his shot after Sahal rolled the ball to the edge of the box.

The action picked up in the second-half when Jessel Carneiro almost scored an own goal before clearing a low cross from Bright Enobakhare. A minute later, Murray missed a chance after Pereyra released him into some space.

Kerala Blasters FC had another bite at the cherry when Gary Hooper came up with a strong shot which went just wide of the target. The pressure paid off as Albino Gomes’ long kick saw the SC East Bengal defenders play Murray off side. The Aussie chested the ball before coming up with a scrappy shot that somehow went beyond Debjit Majumder to break the deadlock.

After the second drinks break, Anthony Pilkington took a shot from the edge of the box but Costa Nhamoinesu cleared it for a corner. The set-piece couldn’t produce much as it was Kerala Blasters FC who broke for a counter-attacking move. However, Sahal Abdul Samad's shot was blocked by Rana Gharami. In the 88th minute, Ajay Chhetri floated in an inviting free kick but Aaron Amadi-Holloway failed to bring it down after trying to go for a right-footed shot.

Just when it seemed like SC East Bengal have lost the chance to gain a point, Rahul KP put Kerala Blasters FC in a spot of bother by giving away a corner kick. Enobakhare delivered a superb ball which was headed into the back of the net by Scott Neville.

While Rahul KP made the initial mistake, Rohit Kumar also failed to mark Neville properly. This late equalizer meant that both teams had to share a point even though both desperately needed all three.

ISL 2020-21, SCEB vs KBFC: Who was the Hero of the Match?

Kerala Blasters FC's Sahal Abdul Samad had a great battle with Jacques Maghoma throughout the match. Courtesy: ISL

Mid-fielder Sahal Abdul Samad was named the ‘Hero of the Match’ for the superb work-rate during his 83-minute stay. Sahal, who has been playing as a left winger in the last few matches, tracked back quite a lot to limit SC East Bengal’s forward players.

The 23-year-old was often seen putting an end to counter-attacks although he could have done much more while going forward. On the whole, Sahal made one key pass along with six tackles which helped out Jessel Carneiro on the left flank.