Kerala Blasters
Sandip Nandy – 7/10
The veteran goalkeeper has his quirks, he has his eccentricities, but at the end of the day, he is still a very good goalkeeper. The 41-year-old made a few huge saves for Kerala in regulation time before saving Memo’s penalty in the shootout.
Sandesh Jhingan – 8/10
Jhingan had a terrific game. His most important contribution was to clear a header from Malouda off the line to keep his side in the game. Defensively, Jhingan didn’t put a foot wrong. Going forward, he didn’t get a single cross right.
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Aaron Hughes – 6/10
Hughes led the defence very well, as he has throughout the tournament. There were a couple of occasions when the pace of Malouda and the other Delhi attackers troubled him, but he used his experience really well to bail himself out of those situations.
Cedric Hengbart – 6/10
His performance was very similar to Hughes. His lack of pace was exposed on some occasions but his experience bailed him out.
Didier Kadio – 5/10
Kadio made some crucial interventions but in the moments that mattered, he faltered. He failed to clear a long ball into the box effectively, gifting Marcelinho Delhi’s opener on the night. For the second goal, it was not a very potent header from Rocha but he got himself in an awkward position to clear it. He was replaced by Belfort in the 56th minute.
Mahamat Azrack – 6/10
Like Azrack has done all through Kerala’s revival this season, he went through the whole game unnoticed. But given that Kerala had the man-advantage, Azrack should have imposed himself on the game more and helped Kerala dominate the game.
Mehtab Hossain – 5/10
Mehtab didn’t play well. His passing was not up to the mark, he didn’t break up the Delhi attacks and his set-piece deliveries were nowhere near as good as they should be.
Josu Currais – 6/10
He struggled at left-back in the first leg and Steve Coppell responded by putting him in midfield. He was not at his creative best though. He did not link up with the other attackers. But when the moment arrived, he smashed his penalty in the shootout with aplomb, as he hit the roof of the net.
Mohammad Rafi – 4/10
He never got involved in any of the attacking play that Kerala had in the first 35 minutes. Then he suffered an injury to his groin and had to be replaced by Mohammad Rafique.
CK Vineeth – 5/10
Vineeth had an off-day. He worked hard and chased all lost causes, but there was barely any quality on the ball.
Duckens Nazon – 7/10
Nazon’s goal in regulation time was Kerala’s saviour.
Substitutes
Mohammad Rafique – 6/10
Rafique played decently after he came on to replace Rafi. He used his skill to beat Souvik on a few occasions but he did not put good balls into the box. He also scored Kerala’s winning penalty with a perfectly-placed kick into the bottom left corner.
Kervens Belfort – 6/10
Belfort, like Rafi, showed some decent pieces of skill but there was no end product. Like Rafi, he scored with his spot-kick to set Kerala on their way.
Antonio German – 4/10
German did not play well. His decision-making was awful. He took some shots from angles where it would have been a better option to pass the ball to other players who were in more dangerous positions. He saw his penalty brilliantly saved by Doblas.
