Kerala Blasters met the men of steel in a crucial match in Kochi, aiming to secure all 3 points. The men in yellow looked like they were gonna have all 3 points, up until tragedy struck in the 86th minute, ending the game in a draw and effectively turning KBFC’s ISL-11 playoff dreams null and void. Let’s take a deep dive into the events of the game.
The home side lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with 4 changes. The lineup saw goalkeeper Nora Fernandes making his debut for the Blasters and the replacement of Jesus Jimenez (Injured) with Kwame Peprah along with changing Danish and Amawia for Yoihenba and Aimen.
Jamshedpur FC who are having an impressive campaign (already qualified for playoffs) under Indian head coach, Khalid Jamil came into the game with only one change that being the return of Lazar Cirkovic in place of Javier Siverio, who was serving a suspension for his accumulation of yellow cards.
The game began with both sides playing eerily similar plans of play, keeping defensive stability a main priority. Uvais got himself booked in the 13th minute of the game after a reckless challenge on Korou, but the resulting freekick wasn’t impactful. Khalid Jamil’s side faced an injury crisis a minute later as Right-Back Shubham Sarangi injured himself while trying to defend the Blasters’ wingback Naocha, he was taken off for Nikhil Barla soon.
Jamshedpur had a chance come across in the 28th minute when a good-looking cross by Nikhil Barla was misjudged by the keeper and met an unmarked Murray in the 6-yard box, but his header went above the goal.
The Blasters would soon break the deadlock in the 34th minute when a goal kick from Albino was headed into the path of Korou by Dusan Lagator, and in a move marked by individual brilliance Korou (5’7) headed the ball over the head of Eze (6’6) and ran onto to the same ball and entered the box, finishing the move with a brilliant shot that beat Albino at the near post for his 2nd goal of the season. The Goal also marked the first goal contribution from new signing, Dusan Lagator as the assist was given in his name.
The Blasters looked more in control of the game after the first goal and in the 45th minute they had another great chance when Aimen put in a dangerous ball into the box, but an onrushing Noacha couldn’t connect the ball as the ball sailed across the goal without any contact in the box. The game went into half-time with the Blasters having a single-goal lead over the visitors.
Both sides approached their bench before the second half began with the Blasters replacing Yoihenba with Danish and Jamshedpur replacing Sourav with Mobashir. Jamshedpur had the first chance of the second half when a corner taken by the substitute Mobashir found Eze at the far post, but his header was stopped in its tracks by the debutant Nora Fernandes in goal. The next few minutes saw a barrage of good shots coming from Luna, Vibin and Javi but none of them hit the target.
Blasters got another great chance in the 55th minute when captain Luna’s lobbed through ball found a well-timed run from an unmarked Danish into the box but his shot was saved by Albino and the move was also surprisingly called offside just after the shot when in reality Danish wasn’t in an offside position when the ball was played. The Blasters got another chance in the 61st minute when Korou played a dangerous-looking ball into the box, but Danish couldn’t connect to it.
In the meantime, Jamshedpur made a change, bringing in Tachikawa in place of Cirkovic. The Blasters also made a change later in the 70th minute of the game, bringing in Amawia in place of Aimen. The substitute Amawia tested the Jamshedpur goalkeeper just minutes after coming on, via a grounded direct freekick attempt which was palmed away by Albino in goal. Meanwhile, Jamshedpur made their final changes of the game bringing in Sanan and former KBFC player Sreekuttan in place of Ritwik and Imran.
The Blasters seemingly sealed the game in the 81st minute when Danish scored from a close-range rebound from a corner beating Albino, but the goal was ruled out after the celebrations by a controversial late call by the referee claiming that Danish was offside, when he wasn’t (again) as per the pundits.
These moments of disappointment would soon turn to be a Shakespearean tragedy for the home side in the 86th minute when a seemingly non-threatening cross into the box by substitute Sreekuttan was misdirected by Milos into his own net past Nora in goal in a costly clearance mishap. JFC had a chance to score the second goal in the 90th minute via Tachikawa but his shot was defended brilliantly by Aiban.
The Blasters were really missing a dependable Centre-Forward in the whole game which was made even worse due to the poor game that Peprah was having, as they failed to score in the agonizing 6 minutes of the extra time thereby letting the game end as a draw. This draw has now effectively nullified the Blasters’ chances of playoff qualification, as they won’t be able to secure enough points from their remaining to topple any of the top 6 teams for a playoff spot.
Khalid Jamil will be satisfied with his team managing to secure atleast a point and will be looking forward to their playoff games while for Tomasz, Purushothaman & Co., this result has effectively marked the end of their season, with the remaining games just being a formality to go through.
With the season effectively over the Blasters’ management has a herculean task at hand with rebuilding the team, especially under the pressure of the ongoing fan protests as the poor recruitment strategies in pre-season have effectively led to the club having one of the if not the worst season in the history of the club according to fans and pundits alike.
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