The current KBFC side resembles a deadlock; the attack process waits for creative balls from the midfield, the midfield process waits for balls from the defense, the defense process waits for movement from the midfield, while the midfield process expects the same from the attackers to attempt a creative pass, leading to a circular wait and thus a deadlock. I had originally planned another title for this piece, but chose not to due to the possibility of it being considered insensitive.
Anyways, onto the story, Kerala Blasters faced Mumbai City at the former’s home turf in Kochi and suffered a disgraceful 1-0 loss against the Islanders. The Blasters continued their disastrous attacking form from the previous game as the men in yellow’s attack looked toothless yet again, giving Mumbai City a comfortable win. Here’s our match report:
Catala opted to start with only 3 Foreign Players
Blasters put out another surprising lineup with only 3 foreigners in the starting 11. Victor Bertomeu spearheaded the attack with Nihal and Korou on the wings while Danish, Marlon (in a more offensive role comparable to 1 in 4-2-1-3/4-2-3-1), and Rowllin formed the midfield trio in the 4-3-3 setup with Naocha in place of Saheef, Bikash, Bah and Sandeep forming the 4-man backline, and Arsh got his debut start with the Blasters as Sachin Suresh was injured. Notable inclusions to the substitute bench included Ajsal and Matias, while notable absentees included Hormipam and Salahudheen.
Mumbai carried their starting 11 from the previous game, with Vikram replacing the injured Ortiz to form a 4-2-3-1 setup with Phurba in goal, Akash, Sahil, Reis, and Valpuia forming the backline, Tulunga-Kauko pair in the Defensive Midfield, Vikram, Brandon, and Chhangte forming the 3 in the 4-2-3-1 setup with Diaz as the sole forward.
In-Game Shenanigans
Blasters began the game on their strong foot as they made the best chances in the opening minutes, with the first one being as early as the 2nd minute of the game when Korou found Bertomeu’s run, but the Spaniard’s strike aimed at the first post was stopped by Lachenpa. Both sides were playing more or less direct football in the opening 10 minutes, with the best example of it coming in the 7th minute when captain Bikash’s long ball found Korou whose cross into the box was met by Bertomeu but the cross was a bit too high for the liking of the Spaniard as his header went over, letting the Mumbai defense breathe a sigh of relief.
The Blasters once again found their way into the Mumbai box in the 11th minute, but the final shot/pass from Danish was a weak one, making it an easy catch for Phurba. This weakness in shooting would continue throughout the game, as the Blasters failed to capitalize on their chances.
Diaz was still causing trouble for the Blasters here and there and came one-on-one with the keeper in the 16th minute, but Arsh denied his attempt to poke it through his legs as the Blasters continued to avoid conceding. Mumbai looked to control more and more of the game by applying pressure on the Blasters by gaining and keeping possession in the home team’s half, particularly via winning setpieces time and again.
Mumbai almost had a break towards the goal via a counterattack from a Blasters corner, but the charge led by Akash Mishra was stopped in its tracks by a well-timed tackle from Sandeep. Mumbai had their best chance of the first half in the 23rd minute when a rare poor pass from captain Bikash during an attempt to build from the back was latched onto by Pereyra Diaz, who freed Chhangte on the left, but the latter’s shot was valiantly blocked by a sliding Oumar Ba.
But the danger wasn’t over as Mumbai was able to execute another move seconds later via Chhangte, who found an unmarked Diaz in the box, who found an unmarked Brandon in the middle, whose shot was blocked by Ba, but when everyone thought the threat was solved because of Oumar’s block, the referee pointed his finger to the penalty spot.
What had transpired was that just after that pass into Brandon was played Diaz was brought down in the box as he was caught by the lazy leg of an onrushing Danish, which was spotted by the ref, who immediately pointed to the spot. Diaz stepped up to take the penalty for the Islanders to try to make it 1-0 in favor of Mumbai, but the Blasters’ debutant GK Arsh showed immense confidence in front of the goal, displayed by his attempt at mind games against the veteran forward, and dived rightly to his right to deny Diaz the goal and Mumbai the lead.
Blasters’ defensive mishandling (which is, in all honesty, an understatement) once again came into play in the 28th minute as Danish cheaply gave away the ball inside the Blasters’ box to Chhangte, but Mumbai couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as the subsequent attack ended with Diaz’s shot blazing over the bar. On the other end of things, Bertomeu was gradually starting to pressurize the Mumbai defense, particularly his marker in Sahil Panwar, who eventually conceded a free kick after pulling down Bertomeu and got booked in the 34th minute of the game.
Bertomeu took the subsequent free kick in his style with a focus on power, an attribute of his that we mentioned in our article about the Blasters’ foreign squad. The free kick was on target but was palmed away by Lachenpa in the goal for a corner. This was the last major event of the first half as it finished 0-0.
Coming to the 2nd half, Blasters made two changes, subbing off Rowllin and Nihal for Vibin and Kevin to boost their attacking, while Mumbai subbed off Sahil Panwar, who was on a yellow, for Bijay Chhetri. Blasters had a good first half, and things were looking good till the Blasters did… what they have done throughout this season – a miscued build-up from the back, eventually finding its way to the back of the net.
A botched ball by Ba helped the forward pressing Mumbai stage an attack, eventually finding Tulunga, whose shot aimed at goal gets deflected and falls to a free man Chhangte, who just has to bury the ball past Arsh while the Blasters defense were stuck to their feet calling for an offside flag that would never rise. Mumbai lead, 1-0.
Minutes later, Blasters won a free kick just at the edge of the box after Kevin was brought down by Bijay (who got booked for the same), but Bertomeu’s free kick was blocked by the wall. The early goal had given a cushion for the Islanders, who just had to defend their lead, and with the Blasters’ attacks being no more than just a slight inconvenience, their (Mumbai’s) attack also was not under any relative pressure and were able to continue going forward time and again with ease.
With more people up top more necessary than ever, the Blasters made a tactical change in the 62nd minute, bringing in Matias and Ebin, taking off Marlon and Bikash, changing to a 3 at the back system to push more players up forward in their effort to equalize. Mumbai tried to double their lead with shot after shot in the 65th minute, but was denied repeatedly by Arsh in goal. Ba got booked in the 73rd minute after a failed attempt to go forward with the ball resulted in a tackle against Brandon.
With a goal more necessary than ever, Ajsal was brought in place of Sandeep to bolster the attack. But even after all these attacking changes, Blasters couldn’t even replicate a fraction of the threat they were in the opening 10 minutes of the game, primarily due to the lack of good movement from the Blasters players, leading to the game being overly predictable, making it easier for Mumbai to defend, choking the Blasters’ attack. Mumbai brought in Puipuia in place of Kauko in the 82nd minute, followed by their final substitution in the 89th minute, bringing in Franklin in place of Vikram.
The Blasters started remembering how to attack post the 90-minute mark, but with only two memorable attempts, both being attempted headers, one by Ajsal in 90+1′ and the other by Bertomeu in 90+4′, but the Blasters fans could only watch in disbelief as both the attempts went just away from the goal to the credit of Bijay’s interference. Now, it’s 90+5′, the referee blows the whistle, and the game ends as a 1-0 loss for the Blasters.
What’s Next?
Petr Kratky would be a happy man as his side performed well enough to secure the away victory, with this being extra-special as his first victory in Kochi. Mumbai’s organization and pressing nullified the Blasters’ progression, and they’ll be looking forward to improving their game as the league goes on forward.
It’s Mumbai’s second consecutive win of the season while the Blasters have faced their second consecutive defeat this season, and Catala, despite defending his players in the post-match press conference, appeared dejected with his team’s overall performance and rightfully so, and will have a herculean task to fix this team before it’s too late, with the threat of relegation present.
Mumbai City are currently 2nd in the title race and face Northeast United on March 1, 2026, while the Blasters are currently 3rd in the relegation race and face last season’s I-League (now named Indian Football League) winners, Inter Kashi, next on 28th February, 2026.
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