Kerala Blasters 2-1 Chennaiyin FC: Manjappada player ratings as the hosts move one inch closer to playoff spot confirmation in the 2022/23 ISL
Kerala Blasters beat Chennaiyin FC 2-1 in an end-to-end contest at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Tuesday, February 7. Nasser El-Khayati drove the visitors to the lead, but the hosts pegged back through an exquisite finish from Adrian Luna. Rahul KP's goal in the second half capped off a good derby win for the Manjappada.
Marina Machans quickly started the game by bagging an early goal through their main man Nasser El Khayati. The Dutch international received the ball from Petar Sliskovic and made space for himself to shoot the bottom of the bottom right-hand corner in the second minute.
The visitors had yet another chance to double the lead early in the game, but Sliskovic's header that met a cross from Akash Sangwan was straight at Gill's graceful hands. This proved to be the final attack for Chennaiyin FC for the rest of the first half as the hosts started stamping authority.
Nishu Kumar took advantage of the poor positioning of Akash Sangwan and made a run behind him to strike the ball ferociously, but Samik Mitra went down quickly to keep out the attempt. This was followed by yet another simple chance for Dimitrios Diamantakos, who failed to keep the ball on target. Rahul KP played an early cross to pick out Adrian Luna. The Uruguyuan set the ball on the platter for Kerala's #9, but the striker drove the ball wide of the post.
However, Ivan Vukomanovic's men finally found the back of the net -- thanks to an exceptional strike from Adrian Luna. Anirudh Thapa's tackle fell kindly onto the path of Luna, whose strike from outside the box rocketed into the top right-hand corner in the 38th minute.
The Men in Yellow were not far away from getting ahead with an unexpected long-range effort from Rahul KP. Samik Mitra's fingertip enabled him to push the ball to the top of the crossbar, denying the homeboy from scoring a goal.
The visitors nearly led the game once again when Akash Sangwan pulled the ball back to Vincy Barretto, who was unmarked inside the penalty box. But the former Blasters forward's shot was acrobatically saved by Gill during first-half injury time.
The Yellow Army finally led the game when the Chennaiyin defense went to sleep. Adrian Luna's low cross found its way to reach Rahul KP, whose strike found the back of the net in the 64th minute. Prabhsukhan Gill was once again brought into action in the second half when he parried the ball away to safety following a good strike from Nasser El Khayati.
The visitors had an excellent chance at the death to equalize the score, but Rahim Ali's snatched shot went comfortably above the crossbar.
Let's have a look at Kerala Blasters' player ratings.
Prabhsukhan Singh Gill - 8/10: Although he was untested for most of the first half, his exceptional save to deny Vincy Barretto made a huge difference to the complexion of the second half.
Nishu Kumar - 7/10: Nishu Kumar brought his defensive and offensive traits. Not only did the right-back come close to scoring, but his work rate did not allow Ninthoi or Vincy to get behind him.
Hormipam Ruivah - 7/10: Hormipam was a calm figure at the back. He was able to negate the threat possessed by Petar Sliskovic and was playing long balls to feed the attackers.
Victor Mongil - 6/10: The centre-back was at fault for the opening goal for Chennaiyin FC as he was unable to deal with the aerial delivery and failed to close the Dutch midfielder down. He left too much space for Sliskovic to find El Khayati. He was solid otherwise.
Jessel Carneiro - 6/10: Jessel Carneiro was not at his best as Chennaiyin FC enjoyed joy through the right wing. The left-back struggled to keep up with the pace of Vincy and Ninthoi.
Jeakson Singh - 6/10: Jeakson did not enjoy a great game against Julius Duker and Nasser El-Khayati. He was not able to bring his A-game against the arch-rivals.
Ivan Kalyuzhnyi - 6.5/10: Kalyuzhnyi was not inventive with the ball, but helped his side win possession on numerous occasions. He was running up and down the pitch to make things happen.
Adrian Luna - 9/10: Adrian Luna gave Edwin Sydney a tough time throughout the game. The attacking midfielder equalized the score with a fizzing strike from the edge of the penalty box.
Sahal Abdul Samad - 6.5/10: Sahal's bright start to the game eventually faded away slowly as the game progressed. He was at the thick of things during the early moments of the game, but struggled to make an impact.
Rahul KP - 9/10: Rahul KP was at the end of a couple of glorious opportunities in the first half, but failed to take them. However, the winger made it count in the second half with a good strike.
Dimitrios Diamantakos - 7/10: Dimitrios Diamantakos was provided with a couple of chances in the first half, but the striker was not able to hit the back of the net. His overall game caused trouble to Chennaiyin FC throughout the game.
Substitutes:
Bryce Miranda - 7/10: Miranda's energetic cameo allowed Kerala to break away on the counter-attacks in the second half. His brilliant delivery was not met by Diamantakos in the second half.
Saurav Mondal - 7.5/10: Saurav Mondal was able to break the rhythm of Chennaiyin FC by winning balls in the middle of the park. He unsettled the visitors.
Danish Farooq - N/A: Danish Farooq made his home debut after coming on from the bench during stoppage time.