Kerala Blasters held East Bengal in a resilient 1-1 draw in an away fixture for the latter, earning their first point in the current ISL season. It was East Bengal who dominated the game after an incident in the 8th minute where Youssef Ezzejjari was deemed to be brought down inside the box by Aiban Dohling, and the resulting penalty was converted by Ezzejjari, giving EB an early 1-0 lead over KB, just 10 minutes into the game.
The Blasters tried to forge a comeback through counter-attack but lacked sharpness in the final third, while East Bengal in their spells of attack, lacked precision over the final shot, both leading to the game being stale for the most part until the 91st minute of the game where a poorly marked Ajsal had a free header from an Ebindas corner and found the back of the net making it 1-1 with few minutes remaining, eventually claiming a point for the visitors. Let’s take a look at the 3 takeaways we learned from this fixture:
“A point apiece but not appeased”:
Even though both teams got a point apiece, the feelings about the same between the two sides are polar opposites. The result is a moral defeat for this East Bengal side, who had everything in favor of them coming to the game, while the result is a moral victory for the Blasters, who managed to hold one of the strongest teams in the league this season to a draw, ending their run of defeats.
However, there’s no question about the fact that the game overall was poor. East Bengal, despite having an early lead and majority of possession, failed to test the Blasters keeper again, and were highly wasteful of their chances, highlighted by their Shots on Target percentage of just 11%. It gets even worse when you realize that 8 out of East Bengal’s total 9 shots came inside the Penalty box, and the only shot on target from EB the entire game was the penalty taken by Ezzejjari in the 10th minute.
Kerala Blasters weren’t much better either performance-wise as they still lacked cohesion in the midfield and final third, and even the equalizer was a result of poor marking by EB rather than complete perfection by the Blasters. The single point does take them above Delhi and Mohammedans to 12th based on goal difference, but if the same poor display continues, they could be punished.
East Bengal’s set-piece woes:
East Bengal has only conceded four goals this season, and half of them have come from set pieces. Even a comparatively non-threatening Blasters side managed to be scary enough during corner scenarios, and among the only 3 corners that Blasters got in the game, two of them resulted in dangerous free headers, with the last one being the decisive goal by Ajsal.
East Bengal had previously conceded from another corner in their game against Jamshedpur, where the Jamshedpur skipper, Stephen Eze, had got an uncontested header within a sea of East Bengal shirts – a goal that kick-started Jamshedpur’s incredible comeback victory that evening. If East Bengal wants to be a serious title contender, this is a part of their game that they should look to improve on going forward.
Kerala Blasters’ open play woes:
Kerala Blasters have only scored two goals this season, and both of them have come from set pieces. Credit where it’s due, Ebindas has shown good proficiency in taking set pieces and has earned his two assists, but for the team overall, this isn’t a great sign. The Blasters, as we mentioned earlier, have lacked cohesion in the midfield and final third, with very poor giveaways of possession every now and then.
The repetitive crosses into the box using Kevin Yoke has also not been working till now and the lack of good attempts is also a concern as the Blasters have barely managed to test the keeper and even if the team wants to use set pieces as a primary goal scoring method, they need to find themselves in positions to earn those, which as of now is rare.
The absence of a proper foreign CF caused by Victor Bertomeu’s suspension and the lack of a reliable Indian forward caused by Korou’s absence due to personal issues are new headaches for the Blasters as they go forward, still waiting on an open play goal.
What’s Next?
Oscar Bruzon will be disappointed with the result and will be looking to bounce back with a bang in their next game against relegation-threatened Mohammedans, who sit at the bottom of the table. The mini Kolkata derby will take place on 21st March at the Salt Lake Stadium at 5:00 P.M. I.S.T.
Kerala Blasters and David Catala would be happy with a point as it takes them 2 spots away from the drop zone, and they will face Punjab FC next on the former’s home turf in Kochi on 21st March at 7:30 P.M. I.S.T.
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