Kerala Blasters 2-0 Mumbai City FC Highlights: Peprah, Diamantakos score in KBFC vs MCFC, ISL 2023-24

​

ISL 2023-24: Diamantakos, Peprah ensure Kerala Blasters remain unbeaten at home

KBFC vs MCFC: Egged on by the biggest crowd of the season, Kerala Blasters latched on to the chances and killed the contest by the end of the first half.

Sachin Suresh jumps to grab the ball right on time as the hosts looks to seal the victory in time, marking its return home in style.

If the score remains like this at full-time, Kerala Blasters would go level on points with table-topper FC Goa, having played two more games.

Peprah threads in a through ball for Pandita, who makes a run into the final third. However, he gets caught in the off-side trap in the process.

In: Prabir, Sandeep, Daisuke, Padita

Out: Leskovic, Naocha, Aimen, Diamantakos

Peprah tries to put pressure on the MCFC defence with a run into the final third. He almost steals the ball off Valpuia but ends up fouling him in the process.

Another chance for Mumbai City as it gets a corner kick. The kick is aimed for the far-post but Kwami Peprah, who has been everywhere on the pitch tonight, does his defensive duties to clear the ball away.

Rahul KP is not really having a night to remember after that miss and it goes only worse with a yellow card. However, MCFC fails to make the most of that opportunity with a free-kick, which is cleared by KBFC.

KBFC has stationed one marker to stick to Diaz, Mumbai City’s main striker, with two more on either side of him to freeze his movement. Precisely, Vukomanovic has done his homework really well.

Mumbai City’s long balls, from the centre of its half to the left, is chested and cleared by the KBFC defence, which looks set to put everything in line to defend the two-goal lead.

Mumbai City is trying to build from the back, with Chhangte getting the ball on the left, and then cutting back. He gets the ball in the box again but Leskovic makes a block at the last minute to deny any space to the Indian international.

Peprah gets the ball in the midfield, beats his marker and then darts into the box and shoots on target. Phurba meets the attempt with equal quality to push it away.

As the ball moves around the park like a pinball game, Vukomanovic would be pleased that his side has capitalised on early opportunities in the match so far.

Valpuia tries to win the ball off Diamantakos but eds up conceding a foul. Meanwhile, Rahul crosses the ball from the left, a similar approach throughout the game, but Stalin kicks it out of play effortlessly.

Van Nieff takes the free-kick this time, which hits the wall and that attempt ends for the islanders, with Kotal clearing the ball away.

Pereyra Diaz gets the ball from Chhangte and the turns to shoot. But Leskovic brings him down to give MCFC a free-kick. Diaz demands for more action but the referee keeps his cards in his pocket.

Kerala Blasters tries to exploit the right flank again with Rahul making a run and then trying to cross it in for Diamantakos but the Greek is caught int he off-side trap to see that attack end to nothing.

Kerala Blasters is running rings around the MCFC defence with set-pieces. Rahul makes a run along the right, gets the pass from Danish and crosses in the centre, which is somehow cleared by the Islanders.

Aimen gets the ball along the left, cuts to his right and then tries a shot, which is blocked by Valpuia for a corner kick. The resulting corner is headed off-target by Danish.

Mehtab looks to be playing the left-back role quite well, with their regular full-back Akash Mishra ruled out following a red card in the previous match. He gets the ball to Bipin along the left flank but KBFC clears it away.

Mumbai City’s defence is caught napping against a high-pressing KBFC, with Peprah almost stealing the ball at the edge of the six-yard box.

Second half begins with Diamantakos getting the ball rolling. MCFC has made one half-time substitution, with Jayesh Rane going off got Sanjiv Stalin.

A goal and an assist each by Dimitrios Diamantakos and Kwame Peprah keeps Kerala Blasters well in front against Mumbai City FC at the JLN Stadium in Kochi.

Peprah and Diamantakos - match made in heaven! Peprah, who assisted Diamantakos for the first goal, gets an assist from the Greek to shoot into the net and double the lead before the half-time whistle

Naocha gets the ball into the final third, with a run along the left flank and crosses to the centre. Diamantakos leave it for Rahul KP. who shoots just wide.

Kerala Blasters looks to stretch the MCFC defence to try and find spaces for counter-attack. But MCFC says put with its back-four to keep the score 0-1.

Apuia goes to the ground after a rash challenge by Drncic. El Khayati takes the free kick, a right-footed hit, which hits the wall and is cleared out of danger.

Phurba and Peprah run to get to the ball and the former wins the ball, with the latter going down, with an appeal for a spot-kick. But the referee is not interested at all.

Kerala Blasters decide against allowing Vibin to play any longer, with Azhar replacing him in the midfield.

Al Khayati gets the ball in the right flank and crosses to his right for Rane, who tries a scissor kick but fails, with the ball landing safely into the gloves of Sachin Suresh.

Vibin looks to get back on his feet eventually, after medical attention on the sidelines, and the referee resumes play.

Kerala Blasters’ midfielder Vibin Mohanan tries to clear the ball off Jayesh Rane but injures himself, rolling his ankle in the process. KBFC’s medical team rushes to attend to him, with Vukomanovic looking concerned.

Naocha tries a back-pass to Sachin who kicks it away just in time. A delay there could have gifted Khayati a chance to shoot.

Kerala lasters is maintaining a heavy low block to deny the low crosses from either flank, from Bipin or Chhangte, forcing Diaz to kep looking for solo efforts.

At the end of the first half-hour, it is the home team that has dominated the game and has earned its reward with Diamantakos breaking the deadlock. For MCFC, however, there is still over an hour to play for in this tense battle.

Mumbai City, the shield winner last season, has had troubled times lately, with its manager leaving and four of its players suspended for this game but the new coach has insisted that it will help the team test its bench strength.

Kerala Blasters is sticking to its 4-4-2 shape against a 4-2-3-1 formation, with tight marking around Diaz and Chhangte in the final third.

El Khayati gets the ball in the KBFC box, tries to land a shot but Drncic makes sure that the Dutchman can only see the ball out without causing any trouble.

Jayesh Rane steps up in the midfield, looks up and shoots a bullet of a hit with his right foot. Sachin is beaten but the ball comes off the post to deny a certain equaliser to the visitors.

It is quite a return for Pereyra Diaz at this venue, having played formerly as a KBFC striker along with Vazquez.

Kerala Blasters has maintained complete control in the game in the last 10 minutes of so, with Danish Farooq coming close to scoring this time, from a free-kick by Vibin.

Diamantakos is fouled outside the box and Vibin takes the resulting free-kick. Though Peprah gets a head to it, the linesman has the flag raised for off-side.

More bad news for Mumbai City FC as it suffers a blow in defence with Griffiths walking out with a hamstring injury. Abdenasser El Khayati replaces him to push Van Nieff into the back four as he takes a spot in the midfield.

Peprah carries the ball along the left flank, beats Tiri to put in a low cross for Diamantakos, who beats Jayesh Rane and Phurba to open the scoring for the Blasters.

Meanwhile, Danish wins the ball in the midfield and passes it to Peprah, who fails to get the ball past Valpuiah.

Kerala Blasters is missing its captain and key midfielder Luna and the fans have a TIFO ready that reads “Recharge Luna”.

Danish Farooq gets the ball in the midfield but Jayesh Rane wins the duel to dispossess the midfielder as the match remains well in balance.

Chhangte wins the ball for Mumbai and crosses the ball from the left. Though Sachin gets a touch on it, he fails to clear completely out of danger and then Kotal clears it on the follow through.

Van Nieff goes down after a duel with Diamantakos, who ultimately wins the ball and the stadium is ringing with boos for MCFC.

Unlike Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City is choosing to go the long ball way, with balls delivered in the final third, which is cleared by Leskovic.

Rahul KP steals the ball at the edge of the box, beating Tiri, but fails to keep his shot on target as the ball lands at the side of the net.

The Indian Super League match between Kerala Blasters and Mumbai City FC begins with MCFC dominating possession. Its first development ends in Sachin’s gloves.

Ivan Vukomanovic waves to the fans at the stadium. He has risen to the status of a hero among KBFC fans after he took the side to the ISL final in 2022.

The players of both teams walk out of the tunnel to the cheer and applause of thousands of fans at the JLN Stadium, most of whom are wearing yellow. It is only a matter of time that the contest begins between KBFC and MCFC.

Kerala Blasters: 4, Mumbai City: 9, Draws: 6

Mumbai City FC travels to Kochi to square off against Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in a clash that can have wide repercussions on the top-of-the-table dynamics of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 on December 24, Sunday.

The Islanders recovered from consecutive goalless draws to secure their maiden victory under Petr Kratky in a dramatic encounter against the Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG). 

The outcome of the 2-1 victory was such that Mumbai will be missing four of its key players, namely: Akash Mishra, Greg Strewart, Vikram Partap Singh, and Rahul Bheke, due to suspensions in this match.

The Blasters, on the other hand, will return home after two matches, which included a 1-0 loss in Goa followed by a 1-0 victory against Punjab FC in New Delhi. 

They have been hit by the absence of skipper Adrian Luna but they will need to ensure that the rest of the weapons in their armoury fire together to stop a terrific Mumbai City FC unit.