Kerala Blasters bag 1st ISL win of the season against high-flying Odisha
Kerala Blasters clinched their first win of the 2021-22 Indian Super League campaign as they beat Odisha with a 2-1 scoreline at the Tilak Maidan. Alvaro Vazquez and Prasanth K scored the goals for the Blasters while Nikhil Raj found the net for Odisha.
Kerala Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanović fielded an unchanged line-up from the Southern Derby against Bengaluru. Aridai Cabrera and Isak Vanlalruatfela replaced Nandhakumar and Liridon Krasniqi in the starting XI for Odisha.
The first real opening of the match came up in the 5th minute of play when Adrian Luna swung in a free-kick into the Odisha box to find Harmanjot Khabra whose faint header was saved in spectacular fashion by Kamaljit Singh.
Javi Hernandez had a go at goal with a long-range effort as he shot from the centre circle but the Spaniard only managed to hit the roof of the net whilst Albino Gomes was out of his position in the 25th minute.
Kerala Blasters survived a scare in the 37th minute when the referee allowed play on despite the linesman flagging a dangerous Odisha move offside. Javi Hernandez had only the keeper to beat but failed to score as the Kerala Blasters defenders came back and blocked the following couple of shots.
In the 42nd minute, Hendry Antonay struck a half volley from 40 yards with aplomb and perfection but was denied by a spectacular save from Albino Gomes as the match was scoreless till half-time.
Kamaljit Singh in action for Odisha against Kerala Blasters
Odisha started the second half strongly as Cabrera made a darting run into the Odisha penalty area dribbling past two Kerala Blasters defenders courtesy of his control on the ball but missed the target from a tight angle in the 46th minute.
The Blasters came back strongly into the game a few minutes later as Adrian Luna had the opportunity to open the scoring but he sent the ball flying over the target in the 51st minute. The Blasters eventually managed to score through Alvaro Vazquez. In the 62nd minute, the Uruguayan was on the end of a brilliant through ball by Luna and he was played onside by Hector Rodas. Vazquez ended up bamboozling Kamaljit Singh with his sharp feet and put the ball into the empty net to make it 1-0 for Kerala Blasters.
Four minutes later, Sahal Abdul Samad found the star striker unmarked and he had the opportunity to make it 2-0 but his left-footed shot was saved by Kamaljit Singh in goal. Vazques kept creating problems for Odisha as he cut in from the left wing but another shot from his was saved by Singh.
Kerala Blasters custodian Gomes was taken off the game in the 76th minute as he showed signs of muscle pain and was replaced by the young Prabhsukhan Gill. The Blasters scored their second goal in the 85th minute when Adrian Luna played out a defense-splitting ball to substitute Prasanth K who kept his composure and slotted the ball home past the Odisha goalkeeper.
Odisha did pull one back late into additional time as substitute Nikhil Raj scored on the ricochet after Prabhsukhan Gill failed to hold on to the initial shot from Raj. However, it was too little too late for Odisha as the match ended 2-1 in favor of the Kerala Blasters who bagged their first ISL win after an 11-game winless run.
Kerala Blasters climb to sixth place in the league table with their first win of the season while Odisha stays in third after tasting their first defeat of the ISL 2021-22 campaign.
Vukamanovic’s men will next face East Bengal next Sunday after a 6-day break while Odisha faces NorthEast United on Friday.