ISL 2015: Kerala Blasters leave it late to salvage a point after 1-1 draw with Mumbai City

Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan fighting for the ball when Mumbai City played Kerala blasters (Image courtesy of ISL)

Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blasters played out a 1-1 draw in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) encounter at the Dr. DY Patil stadium on Thursday evening. The draw virtually ended both sides’ chances of making it to the semi-finals when an Antonio German strike in the 89th minute canceled out Juan Aguilera’s opener for the hosts.

Nicolas Anelka wasn’t involved for Mumbai City as he chose to focus on his role as a manager. He also made few other changes to his team which saw Sony Norde return to the side along with Aitor Lopez and Lalchhuanmawia Fanai who replaced full-backs Ashutosh Mehta and Keegan Pereira respectively.

Terry Phelan too made a number of changes to his side as Joao Coimbra and Deepak Mondal came into the side for Cavin Lobo and Rahul Bheke, while Sandeep Nandy replaced Stephen Bywater in goal for the Kerala Blasters.

First Half: Mumbai City take the lead from a set-piece

The game got off to lively start as Sony Norde who returned to the team after coming back from international duty showed Mumbai City FC had missed in his absence as he drove at the Kerala Blasters defence and unleashed a shot after cutting in from the flank which sailed just over the crossbar in the 4th minute of the game. Five minutes later, it was the visitors Kerala Blasters who came close to hitting the target with Josu who tried to curl his effort into the bottom corner after playing a nice one-two just outside the penalty area.

The game got flat after a quick start to it as both teams seemed devoid of ideas in the final third allowing the midfielders to break up the play. However Mumbai City FC had created a great chance in the 23rd minute when Sunil Chhetri got into the pocket of space between the midfield and defence and gave a lay off for Subhash Singh to shoot, only for his effort at the near post to be scrambled away rather untidily by Nandy for a corner.

But Mumbai City made the breakthrough from in-swinging corner in the 25th minute from Sony Norde which Nandy again struggled to deal with, resulting in it falling to Juan Aguilera just outside the six-yard box as the Spaniard belted his effort on target which went in after taking a deflection on the way. The goal ended Mumbai City FC’s 300-minute long goal drought as Anelka’s men drew first blood in a tight encounter.

Juan Aguilera celebrates his goal for Mumbai City against the Kerala Blasters (Image courtesy of ISL)

Kerala Blasters’ response to going behind was decent and they almost got back on level terms in the 33rd minute, when a lofted pass allowed Chris Dagnall to get behind the Mumbai City FC defence, but goalkeeper Subrata Pal made himself big and narrowed Dagnall’s angle resulting in the striker firing a cross across the face of the goal, but unfortunately for the striker there were no takers as Mumbai City FC were able to clear the danger.

Kerala Blasters failed to create any further chances as the first half fizzled out with Mumbai City FC going into the interval with a slender lead.

Second Half: Kerala equalise late to share the spoils

Kerala Blasters saw an early opportunity to score when Antonio German, who had done well to escape his marker and run into space in the box, fired his effort wide of Subrata Pal’s goal. Pal, who carried an injury from the first half, wasn’t in a condition to continue and had to be replaced by Debjit Majumder just six minutes into the second half.

Majumder was almost beaten just minutes after coming on when German’s flicked header from a Deepak Mondal cross went inches wide of his goal as Kerala Blasters began to threaten the Mumbai City goal more regularly.

After a spell of Kerala Blasters pressure, Mumbai City FC had a chance to double their lead in the 57th minute, when Sunil Chhetri played Saran Singh through on goal, but the winger fired his shot straight at the goalkeeper. A couple of minutes later, Chhetri was presented with yet another good opportunity thanks to a blistering run from Norde, but the Mumbai City top scorer delayed his shot allowing Sandesh Jhingan to block his effort on target.

Mumbai City started to find gaps in the Kerala Blasters defence on the counter-attack and Chhetri almost exploited one in the 63rd minute when he picked out Subhash Singh’s run between the two Kerala Blasters defenders, but Subhash failed to hit the target.

Terry Phelan brought on Mohammed Rafi in place of Joao Coimbra in the 70th minute as the situation became desperate for last season’s runners-up. The Blasters were denied a route back into the game by the heroics of Debjit Majumder who brilliantly tipped over a Josu free kick in the 77th minute.

Nicolas Anelka brought on Keegan Pereira in place of Saran Singh in the 80th minute as he looked to shut up shop and protect what Mumbai City FC had. But the hosts couldn’t hold on for the win as Subhash Singh’s poor clearance from a Deepak Mondal cross fell to Antonio German who drilled his shot into the goal to pull the Blasters level with three minutes left.

Antonio German scored the eqauliser late (Image courtesy of ISL)

Mumbai City FC almost made a perfect response when Chhetri headed back a cross for Frederic Piquionne to score, but the French striker’s effort was blocked. However the danger wasn’t over for the Blasters as Subhash Singh sent in another cross which was headed on target by Bustos but Nandy managed to keep it out.

At the other end, Kerala Blasters had a great chance to win it but Perone lifted his shot way over the goal. There was late drama as the Kerala Blasters managed to get the ball in the back of the Mumbai City net, but the linesman ruled it out for offside. The replays suggested that it was an extremely close call and the linesman was a brave man to make that call.

The draw all but ended both teams’ chances of making it to the semi-finals as a tight game of football fairly ended level pegging.