Francis comes in and has an impact
The visitors looked to have suffered an early blow when Khaled Al Saleh pulled up holding his left thigh and had to be swiftly substituted as early as the 10th minute. Al Saleh has been one of three goalscorers for Kerala this season.
In his place came the tall, rangy Francis Ambane who went on to have quite the game and proved a huge threat to the Kolkata giants. East Bengal found it tough to mark him as his powerful running managed to open up the game for Kerala. He formed a good partnership with Kamo up front.
In the 17th minute, he almost gave them the lead. His left-footed curling free-kick left Luis Barreto in goal rooted to the spot, but unfortunately for Kerala it thudded off the crossbar and the East Bengal defence managed to clear the rebound. In the 25th minute, he delivered a dangerous ball into the box from a corner that almost led to a goal.
His stint was surprisingly brought to an end in the 73rd minute, the substitute getting subbed, with his side still only one goal down. Perhaps Kerala's coach wanted to preserve him for the upcoming games.