Kerala Blasters secured an euphoric 3-0 victory over Sporting Club Delhi, earning all 3 points and going to the top of the table in Group D. A quick brace from Koldo helped the Blasters take the decisive lead before the half-hour mark of the game, which saw two changes in captaincy within the second half. Let’s take a more precise look at what went on during the game:
Sporting Club Delhi lined up in a 3-5-2 formation on paper, with only two changes from their previous game against Mumbai, swapping Karanjit in goal and Devendra in attack for Vishal and Saurav (the infamous bicycle kick goal scorer against Blasters in the previous ISL season), respectively. Delhi lay low in more or less a 5-3-2 on the field, the same strategy used in their previous game against Mumbai.
Kerala Blasters lined up in a 4-4-2 formation on paper, with Nihal and Obieta as Strikers, Noah and Korou as Wide Midfielders, Luna and Lagator as Center Midfielders, along with the same backline from the previous game, with Juan and Bikash as the Center-Back pairing and Saheef and Sandeep as the wingbacks. On the field, however, Kerala Blasters set themselves in an ultra-attacking 4-2-4 formation with Noah and Korou moving forward to assist with Catala’s style of high-pressing gameplay. Luna and Lagator operated deep in the midfield, coming forward at times to assist with the intense high-pressing.
The first chance of the game came for the Blasters when a well-taken corner by Luna found an unmarked Juan at the second post with an open goal in sight, but the Spaniard’s header hit the woodwork, denying an early lead for the Blasters. Despite missing the early chance, Blasters were still dominating the game with their intense high-pressing, not giving the Delhi defense a moment to breathe.
All this high-pressing would eventually come to fruition in the 17th minute when Koldo Obieta brilliantly intercepted a hospital back pass to Ribeiro from an under-pressure Ayush, and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net, giving the Blasters their well-deserved lead. Just 5 minutes later (i.e., in the 22nd minute), the Blasters won the ball back once again after pressing Ayush, and Korou Singh delivered a cross into the box for Nihal who touched it down to an onrushing Obieta who took into his stride and slotted the ball past Vishal once again with ease to find his second of the night, and doubling the Blasters’ lead. Ayush Adhikari would get subbed off post the drinks break in the 32nd minute, getting replaced by Ramhlunchhunga.
Blasters would soon score their third in the 33rd minute, that too in an astounding fashion – An elegant lobbed pass by Luna, would evade all of SCD’s defenses and find Korou Singh right in the middle of the box just in front of the 6 yard area, from where Korou would pull off an amazing shot on the turn before the ball even hit the ground, giving no chance to Vishal in goal and the Blasters were now 3-0 up, with nearly an hour to spare. This goal marked the first goal contribution of the season for both Luna (Assist) and Korou (Goal), and here’s to more of that happening this season.
The Blasters would get the first big chance of the second half as well, when a well-thought-out cutback from Nihal would find Noah in the 12-yard box, whose shot, however, trickled past the goal. Sporting Club Delhi would get the next major chance, a well-executed counter-attack from a cleared Blasters Corner, putting Saurav through on goal with no one in front of him. Saurav reached near the edge of the 6-yard box with his run and fired a shot, which was directed away from goal by a brilliant last-ditch block by Saheef, who caught up with Saurav just in the nick of time.
The Blasters approached their bench for the first time in the 56th minute, subbing off El Capitan, Adrian Luna, and Sandeep Singh for Vibin and Aiban, respectively. Luna gave his captaincy armband to Noah, with it being the latter’s first time wearing the same for the Blasters. The Blasters approached the bench again in the 74th minute, bringing in Danish and Aimen for Lagator and Obieta, respectively.
Blasters were showing defensive lapses in the second half, and they faced a moment of scare in the 81st minute when Ramhlunchhunga sent in a dangerous cross into the box, which luckily evaded an unmarked Ribeiro, who had a free goal in sight. Ending the long wait, Tiago Alves would make his debut in the 85th minute as a substitute for an underperforming Noah Sadaoui, and the latter gave his captaincy armband to Danish, making him the 3rd player to captain the Blasters’ side this game.
Nora came in clutch once again for the Blasters in the 87th minute when an error from the Blasters’ progression from the back led to Delhi’s Augustine having a clear try at goal, and the latter’s shot was saved by Nora in goal, saving his clean sheet. Tiago had a moment of shine in the 90+2′ when he won a free kick near the edge of the box, but his attempt, unfortunately, hit the crossbar, denying him a goal in his debut for the club.
This free kick would make for the last major event of the game as the game finished 3-0 in favor of the Blasters, taking them to the top of Group D, keeping their Super Cup hopes alive. For Sporting Club Delhi, however, this Blasters victory has marked the end of the road for them, as the newcomers are officially out of the Super Cup with their 2nd defeat in a row.
What’s Next?
Despite the victory and the impressive first half performance, the Blasters did seem tired and weak in the second half, lapses in concentration leading to poor errors, errors for which they would’ve been punished if it were against a stronger opposition, like Mumbai City FC, who they’ll face next. The Blasters have shown tremendous improvement from their first game, and the Blasters’ faithful will be hopeful that their club will repeat the same and extend their winning streak in order to achieve their desired Super Cup semi-final qualification.
The Blasters will face Mumbai City FC in their final game of the Super Cup group stage on the night of November 6th at the Fatorda.
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