Clinical Kerala Blasters sentence East Bengal FC to 3rd straight defeat in ISL 2023-24
Kerala Blasters FC galloped to the top of the ISL 2023-24 standings as they silenced a roaring Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan with a 1-2 victory against East Bengal FC on Saturday.
While Daisuke Sakai's first-half strike earned the lead for the Yellow Army, a comedy of errors from Cleiton Silva while taking a penalty late in the second half hampered the home side's efforts to crawl back into the game.
Ultimately, Dimitrios Diamatakos stabbed home the all-important second goal for the Blasters and a consolation strike from Cleiton wasn't enough to worry the visitors.
With just four points in the first four outings, the Red and Gold Brigade were hovering in the 10th position, while Kerala were fifth in the standings with 10 points from their five matches. Although the momentum clearly favored the Blasters, the roaring home supporters who had turned up in numbers tilted the balance scale in East Bengal's favor.
With Cleiton Silva and Javier Siverio starting together, the attacking intent from Carles Cuadrat was evident and the initial proceedings highlighted the same. Both sides, filled with the intention to hit the ground running, created a few chances in the early minutes but the anxiousness prevented the attacking plays from affecting the scoreline.
Meanwhile, Danish Farooq became the first player on the night to get into the referee's books for a nasty stamp on an opposition player. As the initial intensity fizzled out a couple of bookings were shown to players from either side. Harmanjot Singh Khabra received the yellow for elbowing Adrian Luna, while Pritam Kotal could have seen a different color on another day for his stud-up tackle.
When the tempo of the match was seemingly set, the drinks break left the hosts unsettled as they ended up conceding a clumsy goal in the 32nd minute. Kerala caught East Bengal napping and Adrian Luna set Daisuke Sakai through down the left flank.
The Japanese winger had just Mohamad Rakip to beat and he danced past him with great panache, before unleashing a curling effort. Although Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, who was playing against his former club, managed to get fingertips to the ball, it still crept into the top corner.
The away fans, although a handful, waved on their yellow flags and scarves and cut through the silence of the Torchbearers. Minutes later, the East Bengal fans roared once again as Kwame Peprah's headed effort nestled into the net but the offside flag saved East Bengal's blushes.
The impetus was now with the Torchbearers to push ahead. However, the lack of composure in the final third ensured they went into the half-time break trailing 0-1.
Cleiton Silva's penalty fumble in the second half costs East Bengal a chance at restoring parity against Kerala Blasters
Returning in the second half, Carles Cuadrat reacted with three immediate changes. Nishu Kumar, Souvik Chakrabarti, and debutant Maher Hijazi replaced Rakip, Khabra, and Saul Crespo.
The fresh legs made East Bengal evidently more proactive as they carved out a neat opportunity in the 55th minute. Cleiton's through pass inside the box rolled into the path of Naorem Mahesh Singh, who had been largely kept quiet throughout the night, but the winger's effort crept wide of the target.
Six minutes later, another gilt-edge opportunity presented itself the hosts' way when an inch-perfect cross from Mahesh found the head of Siverio. But the Spaniard's attempt rolled wide of the target.
The second half had seen a complete role reversal from both sides, as while East Bengal were now enjoying domination in possession and had more attacking intent, the Blasters were happy to safeguard their lead and hit on the break.
The Red and Gold Brigade had to roll the dice with minutes seeping away and took off center-back Lalchungnunga to bring on an attacker in VP Suhair. Borja Herrera was also thrown into the mix in place of Jose Pardo.
The charge from the hosts paid off in the 83rd minute when Sachin Suresh failed to gather a long-range effort from Nandhakumarand and while Mahesh attempted to latch on to the rebound, he was brought down by the Blasters shot-stopper inside the box.
The referee pointed to the spot without any hesitation and while the stage was set for East Bengal to restore parity, what followed was a Shakespearean tragedy. Cleiton Silva stood over the spot kick but his timid effort was gobbled up by Sachin with ease.
However, the referee directed for a retake as the goalkeeper had both his feet off the goalline. The Brazilian forward once again presided over the penalty but there was no altering the result as an inspired Sachin Suresh once again pulled off a brilliant save. To further deepen the wound, Cleiton skied the rebound.
But there was more misery awaiting the Torchbearers as a defensive lapse led to Dimitrios Diamantakos stabbing home the cushion goal. The heads of the home team dropped right away. The goalscorer, however, received a second yellow for taking his shirt off during the celebrations but Kerala or Ivan Vukomanovic could hardly pay heed to the one-man disadvantage.
In the final minute of additional time, East Bengal pulled a goal back through Cleiton when Sandeep Singh handled the ball inside his own box and the Brazilian didn't falter then.
But it was too little too late from the hosts and the referee blew the whistle right away to make it a hat-trick of losses for Cuadrat's men. Meanwhile, Kerala jumped to the top of the standings with 13 points from six matches.