The Kerala Blasters met Mumbai City in their final home game of the season, with the visitors in search of a point to salvage their play-off qualification. The defensively solid Blasters, with the help of a powerful strike by Kwame Peprah, earned all the 3 points as the game ended 1-0. Let’s take a look at the game’s moments of grandeur.
The Blasters made just a single change to the starting 11 that drew against Jamshedpur last game, with Ishan Pandita replacing Yoihenba Meitei, as Tomasz and T.G. Purushothaman decided to change the lineup formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2. Their Moroccan star winger – Noah Sadaoui, coming back from injury also was available for the Blasters from the bench. Their leading goal-scorer Jesus Jimenez was the only notable absentee as he was allowed to rest by the club amid his injury concerns in preparation for the upcoming Super Cup in Bhubaneswar.
The visitors Mumbai City made no changes to their starting lineup that drew against league champions Mohun Bagan last game as Vikram’s suspension was overturned as an exceptional case by the AIFF as per TOI journalist Marcus Mergulhao’s post on X (formerly Twitter).
The game began and the Blasters’ left-winger Aimen got himself booked in the first minute of the game for a challenge on Mumbai’s playmaker Jon Toral. The Islanders shook the Blasters’ defense in the 9th minute when after a failed sliding tackle attempt by Milos, Chhangte found himself in open space and took a spectacular attempt at goal which rattled the crossbar and went out for a goal-kick.
The Blasters got a great opportunity in the 12th minute when Korou delivered a dangerous-looking ball into the box but Ishan in the box couldn’t manage to get a touch on it to redirect it towards goal. The Blasters had an even better chance in the 16th minute when Aiban’s deflected cross attempt found an unmarked Milos in the 6-yard box, but the Montenegrin’s free-header was brilliantly stopped by the Mumbai shot-stopper Phurba in goal.
Mumbai’s left-wingback Sahil Panwar got himself booked in the 30th minute of the game for a challenge on Korou. The Blasters’ defense got a scare at the 45+2′ mark in the game when a poor back pass by Aimen was taken into the box and inadvertently collected by Nora in an impulsive response to Chhangte’s pressing, awarding the visitors an indirect free-kick inside the box but the Islanders failed to convert the opportunity as the game went into the half-time break soon with the scoresheet still at 0-0.
The Blasters made a change before the second half began as Danish replaced an off-color Ishan while Mumbai replaced Valpuia with Prabir Das. The Visitors got an injury scare minutes after the start of the second half when their Spanish wall Tiri got himself injured in an attempt to defend a corner. The game was paused for a few minutes and the referee requested Tiri to take his remaining treatment outside the pitch in order to restart the game.
This incident would go on to change the fate of the game as within a short span of time following the restart, a Van Nieff clearance ricocheted off Korou into the path of Peprah who shrugged off Krouma and took a powerful shot from a tight angle that blasted into the roof of the net giving no chance to Phurba in goal to react. Tiri had to watch the goal from the sidelines and come back into the pitch with his team a goal down while coach Kratky was in disbelief and disappointed with the way his team conceded.
The visitors were a goal down from the 52nd minute and tried to improve their attack by bringing in Ortiz and Noufal in place of Toral and Bipin. In the meantime, Vibin and Naocha had got themselves booked. The game had a controversial event in the 67th minute when a powerful cross by Brandon struck Aiban’s arm but the referee granted a corner for the visitors rather than a penalty, and it didn’t help much that nobody else except Brandon and Kratky appealed for the handball.
Prabir Das who is on loan at Mumbai City from Kerala Blasters got himself booked in the 69th minute. The Blasters made another attacking change in the 71st minute bringing in Noah Sadaoui to replace the goal-scorer Peprah. The Blasters narrowly escaped from conceding in the 73rd minute when Chhangte’s attempt went past Nora in goal, but an onrushing Vikram couldn’t also manage to land a touch on that ball to redirect it towards goal as the ball rolled out for a goal-kick.
One of the game’s best moments came in the 77th minute when Aimen gracefully danced past 4 black shirts and took a shot on goal, but the shot was stopped by Phurba in goal and then cleared away by the Mumbai defense. He was subbed off later in the 86th minute for Bikash Yumnam. Mumbai City also made two changes in the 86th minute replacing Brandon and Sahil with Ayush and Nathan.
In a moment of individual brilliance, Noah Sadaoui came close to scoring a goal on his return in the 88th minute of the game but his long-range effort was saved by Phurba in goal. The Blasters made their last pair of substitutions in the 90+2′ minute mark bringing in Freddy and Hormipam in place of Vibin and Aiban.
Arguably the most highlight-worthy event of the game came in the 90+6′ minute mark when a shot by Vikram from inside the box went past the Blasters’ lines of defense and the goalkeeper but was cleared off the goal-line spectacularly by an onrushing Bikash to deny Mumbai an equalizer.
Hormipam got himself booked in the 90+8′ along with Van Nieff. Mumbai had the last chance of the game via a freekick, but they couldn’t convert it as well as the referee blew for full-time, and the game ended 1-0 in favor of Blasters, playing their last home game of ISL ’24-25 season.
Tomasz Tchorz and T.G. Purushothaman will be impressed with how the team performed and will be looking forward to ending what has been a disappointing season with a strong finish. On the other hand, Petr Kratky would be furious with how his side performed and how their strategy of ‘playing for just a point’ backfired, as the visitors are still a point away from getting a playoff spot.
Kerala Blasters next face Hyderabad away on the 12th of March for their last game of this ISL season while Mumbai City next face playoff-bound Bengaluru in a decisive game a day before on the 11th of March.
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