Blasters are back but with a pop rather than a bang, the men in yellow played out a frustrating 1-0 win against Rajasthan United, with the latter playing with 10 men during the majority of the 2nd half. Let’s take an in-depth look at what transpired during the game in Bambolim:
KBFC put out a surprising lineup with Sandeep, Saheef starting as wingbacks with Nora in goal, and expected sure-shot starters Noah, Naocha, Aimen, Amey, etc. on the bench. Other distinguishable names on the roster, including Tiago Alves (as a precaution) and Sumit Sharma, weren’t even on the bench as the Blasters took to the field. The Blasters lined up in a 4-3-3 formation with Bikash and Juan forming the heart of the defensive backline with Saheef and Sandeep as the Wingbacks, a 3-man midfield consisting of Luna, Vibin and Danish, and the 3-man attack with Nihal and Korou as Wingers and Koldo Obieta as the lone striker.
The Blasters kicked off the game, and the first half that ensued was not very interesting, to say the least. The highly physical gameplay that leaned on defensive solidarity, combined with the ‘first match’ blues, led the game to see few great chances created and even fewer shots as the first half gruelingly went on. Standout performances by the two new foreign additions in the Rajasthan midfield – the Ghanaian duo of Ebenezer Amoh (Kings) and Abdul-Halik Hudu – locked down the Blasters’ midfield progression and forced the Tuskers to attack from the wings, but Ango was there to deal with the resulting crosses.
The Solid defense of the Desert Warriors kept the Blasters at bay and away from the goal; however, Danish Farooq would come close to scoring with a well-timed header from an Adrian Luna corner, which unfortunately hit the woodwork and went out for a goal kick. The Blasters’ skipper, Adrian Luna, got booked in the 40th minute when his wayward arm hit Ebenezer in the face.
The Blasters lacked shots in the first half, almost always missing out on a final connection, with everyone trying to set up someone to shoot rather than taking the shot themselves and wayward crosses with ambiguous aim, which could be either indicating the absence of a target man or a poacher in the final third or just a lack of understanding between the players. Things were square at the break when the referee blew the half-time whistle, and the game was more or less eventless in the first half, something that would change in the second half.
Both sides came into the second-half without any changes and the game became more open as both sides pushed a bit more forward to attack, leading to more chances here and there, with Rajasthan United getting the first major chance of the game as a wayward longball bounced into the stride of Robinson who pounced on it but was parried away by the Goan in Goal for the Blasters, Nora Fernandes. One of the defining moments of the game would come just minutes later, as Koldo Obieta would set up a brilliant through ball, splitting the Rajasthan defense for the late run of Nihal Sudheesh, but the latter would be pulled down near the edge of the box by Gursimrat Gill, brother of former Blaster Prabhsukhan Gill.
This foul by Gursimrat would change the course of the game as he was punished with a Straight Red Card for his actions, as the referee deemed he was the last man and his foul was deliberate and denied a clear goal scoring opportunity for Nihal, who was already ahead of Gill during the foul and would’ve only had the goalie to beat if he had gotten the ball. Now, Rajasthan were down to 10 men and a free kick was awarded to the Blasters from near the edge of the box. The resulting free kick from Adrian Luna, however, couldn’t hit the target.
The Red Card incident obviously forced Rajasthan to go deep into their own half, comparatively, trying to salvage at least a point from the fixture and Blasters, with the numerical advantage, pushed more forward to score and get all three points from the game. The Blasters would make the first substitution(s) of the game in the 55th minute as they would sub off Danish and Nihal for Freddy and Noah, indicating their desire to double down on the offense.
The Blasters’ attacks still lacked a bit of sharpness as the woes from the first half followed here and there with the rest of the other chances cleared away by the Rajasthan defense. Rajasthan were still the better team in the game, as they carried a certain shape and balance in their defense and their counters, and more importantly, coordination, a factor where the Blasters were a bit lacking as chance after chance went by for Catala’s men, who just couldn’t find the final string of passes.
Rajasthan gave a moment of scare for the Blasters in the 67th minute, when a well-set-up cross by Naoba almost found Robinson, who had outpaced Juan near the goal, but the cross went past without any touch, letting the Blasters breathe a sigh of relief. Amawia and Amey (making his debut) were brought in for Vibin and Sandeep in the 71st minute, with the latter having a game to forget. The Blasters would again approach the bench in the 85th minute, bringing Aimen in for Korou.
Rajasthan’s valiant efforts would go to waste in the 86th minute when a beautiful cross by the Blasters’ Center-Back Juan Rodriguez from the wing was met with an even more beautiful header from Koldo Obieta, who had drifted into the unmarked territory on the second post and shook the Rajasthan net with that header. The Spanish Duo really came in clutch for the Blasters at the death as they were now leading 1-0 with minutes to spare.
Rajasthan refused to give up as they still pushed to attack for the equalizer, in order to salvage a point at least from the fixture, as they had nothing to lose now. Rajasthan almost gave an instant response at the death of regulation time when a stray ball post-corner fell for Joseph, who unleashed a curving effort aimed towards the second post, but the ball didn’t dip enough in time as the shot went over the crossbar.
The Blasters weren’t sitting back either as they unleashed attacks in search for their second, coming close twice, once when a shot by an unmarked Amawia hit the woodwork and the next when a hospital pass from former Blaster Khabra was latched on to by Obieta, who pushed it past the keeper but was cleared off by a sliding Ango in front of the goal. The Blasters fans had a moment of scare in 90+5′ when an attack by Rajasthan resulted in a brilliant backheader that looked like it was going in before it was tipped over the bar by a flying Nora in goal.
The resulting corner caused no harm for the Blasters as the referee flew the full-time whistle, confirming all three points went to the Blasters. The Drama did not end there, as there was a small fight after the full-time whistle between Amawia and some Rajasthan United players, but thankfully, it was resolved quickly without having to face any major repercussions.
What’s Next?
Despite the not-so-good performance, the ‘first game’ blues reason will give the Blasters a pass this time around from the fans, but it’s true that the Blasters need to put in some solid shifts before their next, as facing off against their fellow ISL teams might not be this easy. The Blasters face newly formed Sporting Club Delhi next, coached by former KBFC senior and youth team coach, Tomasz Tchorz, coming after a 4-1 defeat against Mumbai City FC in their previous game. The Blasters now have three points, which puts them in 2nd place in Group D, trailing behind Mumbai City just on the basis of Goal Difference. The Blasters take the field again on November 3rd in Bambolim.
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