ISL 2017, Match 7: Kerala Blasters vs Jamshedpur FC, talking points
In a return to his previous stomping ground, Steve Coppell led Jamshedpur FC out at the home of the Kerala Blasters in Kochi and came away with a draw. It was a second successive goalless draw for both of these teams in ISL 2017 - the Blasters having drawn 0-0 against ATK in the season opener and Jamshedpur doing the same in the tournament's second game against NorthEast United.
There had been only two goalless draws in this year's competition previously and both these sides were involved. So the result wasn't entirely surprising. No goals in this one, but not exactly a drab encounter. Here's what stood out from the game.
#1 More touches for Berba
One of the things that Rene Meulensteen would not have been happy about after the Blasters' first game against ATK was how involved marquee signing Dimitar Berbatov was. Berbatov is playing in a deeper, playmaking role behind the front three this season with the Blasters and in the opener, he received very few touches of the ball causing him much frustration.
Tonight, it looked like that Meulensteen had made it clear to his side to get the Bulgarian more involved. In the first 25 minutes of the game, he probably received more touches of the ball than what he had done in the entirety of the first match.
Though the Blasters didn't get the win they would have hoped for, it looked like they had addressed one of the shortcomings from the last game.