Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyin FC went face-to-face in the Historic ‘Southern Derby’, with both sides hoping to clinch a victory in order to keep their play-off hopes alive. The visitors dominated the pitch as the game ended 3-1 in favor of the men in yellow, creating history with their first win at the Marina Arena since their inception almost 11 years ago. Let’s take a look at some of the games’ enthralling moments.
T.G. Purushothaman made major changes in the Blasters lineup, putting their Moroccan star winger, Noah Sadaoui on the bench to give Amawia his first start along with Danish Farooq in the Midfield replacing suspended Freddy. Kwame Peprah took the foreign slot left vacant by Noah, replacing Vibin Mohanan in the lineup. Owen Coyle on the other hand also made 3 changes replacing the likes of Kiyan, Jitendra and Elsinho with Brambilla, Farukh and Laldinliana.
The game began and the Blasters looked in control since the start and were rewarded with an early goal in the 2nd minute of the game. The young lad Korou Singh’s venturing near the edge of the box led to a ‘ricocheted’ pass to their star striker, Jesus Jimenez, who found the back of the net with ease to give the visitors the lead. It was the 11th goal of the season for the Blasters’ Spanish stalwart, who continues his excellent run of form.The visitors dominated the midfield, with the tactical change of putting Peprah in a No. 10 role extracting a lot of praise from the pundits.
The Blasters came close to doubling their lead in the 12th minute when an excellent chipped through ball found Jesus in the box, but the Spaniard’s weak-footed shot was saved by the Chennaiyin custodian, Mohammed Nawaz in goal. On the other half of the pitch, Chennaiyin came close to an equalizer in the 17th minute when a dangerous freekick by Connor Shields found skipper Ryan Edwards in the box, but his bullet header was met with an even better save from Sachin Suresh in goal.
Things went from grey to dark for the home side in the 36th minute when their Colombian striker Wilmar Jordan Gil was handed marching orders by the referee (controversially) for hitting the Blasters’ Montenegrin Centre-Back Milos Drincic in the back of his head in an off-the-ball situation. The home side was now 10-men down while also being a goal down, which gave the visitors a big boost of momentum.
Chennaiyin FC’s poor luck was not over yet as a well-performing Laldinliana had to be subbed off in the 43rd minute due to a seemingly dislocated shoulder injury. (Get Well Soon, Dinliana). He was replaced by veteran Mandar Rao Dessai for the rest of the game. Chennaiyin FC came close to scoring an equalizer in the 44th minute via a cross into the box by Farukh Choudhary but both Shields and Brambilla couldn’t direct the ball towards the net.
The second half began with the touch of Chennaiyin but it was the Blasters who struck first again. A delicate pass into the box by skipper Adrian Luna was converted by Kwame Peprah in the box, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead by the 56th minute of the game. Coyle made three changes in the 60th minute of the game, bringing in Chima, Vincy and Elsinho in place of Brambilla, Farukh and Ryan.
The Blasters also approached their bench a few minutes later subbing off Peprah and Hormipam for Lagator and Vibin Mohanan. Chennaiyin made another change in the 73rd minute subbing off Hnamte to bring on Jiteshwor. The game was mostly stale in the upcoming minutes as both sides reached each other’s box but couldn’t create any actual threat.
The Blasters brought in Noah Sadaoui and Ishan Pandita in the 80th minute of the game in place of Jesus and Amawia in order to give a final attacking push. Noah made a quick impact as he won a free kick just outside the box just after coming in, but he failed to convert it as the ball sailed over the crossbar. The Blasters came close to scoring a 4th in the dying minutes of the game through Vibin Mohanan but his accurate shot was faced with an even more accurate save by the Chennaiyin custodian Nawaz in goal.
The Blasters subbed off Danish for Azhar in the 90th minute. Chennaiyin pulled back a consolation goal in the 91st minute via Vincy Barretto who capitalized on the confusion within the Blasters’ box. Things heated up again in the 93rd minute when a civil clash broke out between Luna and Noah, but the situation was doused down by Pandita.
The game ended 3-1 in favor of the Blasters as they write history with their first win at the Marina Arena since their inception. T.G. Purushothaman will be happy with the way his side played and the teamwork on display while Owen Coyle will be disappointed with his side as their play-off hopes have taken another major blow.
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