ISL 2015: Kerala Blasters FC overcome FC Pune City in a comfortable 2-0 win

Chris Dagnall(centre) of Kerala Blasters celebrates with his teammates after scoring in the first-half

Kerala Blasters FC moved up a place from the bottom of the table as they beat table toppers FC Pune City 2-0 with relative ease. Chris Dagnall and Sanchez Watt scored on either halves to gift the struggling Kerala franchise all three points. Kerala Blasters now have eight points from as many matches and move into second bottom on the table.

Meanwhile the visitors, David Platt’s FC Pune City who started the game at the top of the table, missed a great opportunity to build a lead over the rest succumbing to their third loss of the season. They remain at the top of the ISL 2015 table but are tied on 13 points with the Delhi Dynamos who have played a game less compared to the Pune outfit.

First Half

The last time Kerala and Pune faced each other, they served up a five-goal thriller. And this time around, they were at it again playing attacking football right from the start.

David Platt’s men started the game on the front foot playing some quick passes and crossing in a ball into the box early on. But the men in yellow found their rhythm soon and their prolific striker Mohammed Rafi came close to scoring as early as the 3rd minute. From this point on, it was all one-way traffic throughout the first forty-five minutes.

Soon after there was some controversy as Lenny Rodrigues went past Saumik Dey and captain Ramage down the right before passing the ball to Uche who did score. However, the goal did not count as the linesman had blown his whistle and replays showed that the referee had called it right. The ball had indeed gone out of play.

The Blasters were the dominant side with East Bengal duo Mehtab Hussain, Saumik Dey complimenting the likes of Rafi, Dagnall, Josu and Watt. Early on, Chris Dagnall put in a cross for Sanchez Watt who failed to test Simonsen in the Pune goal.

The ex-Arsenal man made a good run early on but nothing eventually came of it. He missed a chance in the 20th minute as well. Soon after, Englishman Dagnall failed to finish an absolute sitter after a brilliant pass by Joao Coimbra.

For Pune, a majority of the attacks come down the left wing with Jackichand being a constant threat. He even switched wings and even threatened but the Kerala defence was on its toes each time. Simonsen in the Pune goal was probably the busiest of the Pune players.

He saved shots from both Dagnall and Watt on a few occasions. Right before the end of the first half, Kerala had a flurry of chances but Roger Johnson at the heart of the Pune defence was there each and every single time denying the opposition.

The breakthrough eventually came with Chris Dagnall smashing the ball into the back of the net just before the referee’s whistle.

Second Half

Pune began the second half with Costa Rican Yendrick Ruiz coming on in place of Kalu Uche. The change did bring about a slight difference. Pune dominated proceedings early on in the second half.

Dagnall came close once again but like the earlier cases, his technique let him down. However, it Sanchez Watt who made up for his colleague’s misses. With a neat finish with his left foot, the forward scored Kerala’s second goal and strengthened his team’s hold over the game.

Just like the first half, the Pune defence was all over the place in the second half. Both Johnson and Ravannan were tested time and again. The introduction of Bikash Jairu brought about some pace into the Pune attack. Yet the youngster who plies his trade for East Bengal had difficulty breaching the Kerala defence.

Terry Phelan’s men dominated the rest of the game but failed to score again. Ishfaq Ahmed came close to scoring almost at the death but that was not to be.

Pune have always struggled on their travels and that trend looks set to continue. The next five of their six games is away from home and that is a potential problem from them. The next few games are huge for the side.

For Kerala, it could be safe to say that the season has effectively begun. However, there is a lot of work left to be done. The Blasters have to keep up this performance if they are to qualify for the semis. In spite of netting two today, scoring goals is a problem and Phelan will have to work hard on rectifying the same.