MBSG 0-1 KBFC highlights, ISL 2023-24: Diamantakos goal enough as Kerala Blasters edges win against Mohun Bagan SG

Kerala Blasters holds on and Dimitrios Diamtankos’ first-half goal is enough as it edges Mohun Bagan 1-0 for its third consecutive win. It is also the third consecutive clean sheet for Ivan Vukomanovic’s men. 

KBFC booking: Rahul KP sees a yellow card, which means he will miss the next match. 

Petratos hits the wall with his freekick and Peprah launches a counter-attack with acres of green ahead of him. He tries to make a square pass but it is cut out. However, the danger is not over. Daisuke gets the ball and shoots at goal but makes the save. 

KBFC subs: IN- Yoihenba, Daisuke OUT- Azhar, Diamantakos 

SAVE - Rahul KP has a clear run at goal and had all the time to find the net. But Kaith comes off his line and makes himself big. Rahul shoots but Kaith makes the save to keep the Mariners in the match. 

Saurav tries to find Diamantakos with a cross from the left but he puts too much weight on his pass and the latter cannot get to the ball. 

Six minutes added at the end of the second-half. 

KBFC booking: Azhar gets a yellow card for tugging at the shirt of Sadiku and stopping the attack. 

Mohun Bagan works out a short corner. Boumous passes to Asish Rai, who shoots first-time at goal and misses the target by some distance. He had bodies inside the box and a cross would have been a better option. 

Kerala Blasters launch a dangerous counter-attack but it ends as Asish Rai intercepts Saurav’s cross from the right and flicks the ball to momentary safety. 

KBFC booking: Peprah becomes the latest player to a yellow card for his mistimed challenge on Hnamte. 

Petratos sends in a driving cross inside the Blasters box but there was no Mohun Bagan shirt to attack the cross. In the end, it is an easy collect for Sachin. 

Sadiku gets at the end of Asish Rai’s cross and heads the ball at goal, but the Albanian cannot keep his effort on target. 

MBSG sub: IN- Suhail OUT- Kiyan

Petratos goes down inside the box and he vociferously claims for a penalty. But the referee does not respond. 

KBFC booking: Diamantakos sees a yellow card for dissent. 

Diamantakos takes a grounded shot from the edge of the box but it is straight at the Kaith, who saw the shot all the way. 

Hugo Boumous sends in a searching ball inside the box from the right. Hnamte has all the time and space to shoot and he goes for a header. However, the effort is nowhere near the target. 

KBFC subs: IN- Prabir, Saurav OUT- Kotal, Aimen

Rai crosses again inside the box and Sadiku battles with Kotal to get to the ball. In the end, it is another bit of confident keeping from Sachin as he ventures off his line to collect the ball. 

Asish Rai sends the ball inside the Blasters box with an early cross but cannot find any of his teammates. Sachin catches the ball without fuss. 

MBSG sub: IN- Manvir OUT- Rathi 

Boumous does a couple of stepovers and picks out a cross inside the box. Sadiku tries to get at the end of the cross but Naocha does just enough to stop the latter. In the end, Sachin catches the ball. 

MBSG subs: IN- Hnamte, Sadiku OUT- Tangri, Cummings 

Petratos goes for a shot from the freekick as he tries to curl the ball around the wall and hit the target. However, the shot has too much power and the ball goes out for a goalkick. 

Azhar brings down Petratos and the Mariners have a freekick in a tempting position. The KBFC player protests but the referee waves away the protest. 

Petratos cuts in and takes a shot from the edge of the Kerala Blasters box but the effort is blocked. Mohun Bagan slowly starting to dominate proceedings and the sense of urgency is clear from Ferrando’s men. 

Rahul KP shoots from distance and does not miss the target by much. Kaith was at full-stretch as he tried to get a hand to it. 

A ball is played inside the Kerala box and Cummings comes close to scoring with a header. 

Boumous sends the ball inside the box to Cummings. KBFC tries to get the ball away but there is a certain confusion. Cummings shoots but the ball creeps past the post. 

Cummings puts n a challenge on Milos Drincic and the latter has an awkward fall. It did not look so serious in the beginning but Drincic is not moving too well as the medical staff tend to him. The last thing Vukomanovic needs is another long-term injury. 

Kiyan stabs the ball into the box but the ball goes straight to Sachin. 

Kerala Blasters leading Mohun Bagan 1-0 as the second-half kicks-off at the Salt Lake Stadium. 

Dimitrios Diamantakos’ goal keeps Kerala Blasters in a 1-0 lead against Mohun Bagan at the break. 

Two minutes added at the end of the first-half. 

Leskovic goes for a shot from an ambitious distance from a KBFC freekick. The shot is straight at the wall. 

The Mariners try to launch a counter-attack but fail to do so. 

Azhar tries to find Rahul KP by threading a through ball to the latter, but Kaith anticipates the danger and comes off his line to collect the ball. 

MBSG booking: Deepak Tangri sees yellow for his foul on Aimen. 

Petratos sends the ball inside the box with a low cross from the right. Cummings controls the ball tries to shoot on the turn. But he is not allowed to do as the Blasters clear the ball. 

Peprah, under pressure from Subhasish, makes his way inside the box and shoots from a similar angle from where Diamantakos scored the goal. But Peprah’s shot is low and Kaith does well to get a hand to it and make the save. 

Rahul KP does well to bring down the ball as he was played a diagonal from the left. He makes his way inside the box, cuts in shoots at the near-post. The shot has power but misses the target, albeit not by much. 

Kaith almost commits a fatal error in a bid to clear the ball. It was a poor one and the ball goes straight to Peprah. But the forward could not control the ball as it hits him and returns to Kaith. An escape for Mohun Bagan there. 

Naocha goes for a cross inside the box from the right but Kiyan does well to block it and concede a corner. 

The match halts for the first drinks break and Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic will be happy with what he has seen till now. 

Aimen shows quick feet to get past Thapa and Asish inside the Mohun Bagan box. HE tries to square the ball and Asish gets a touch to concede a corner. 

Deepak Tangri is a bit winded at the moment after Subhasish’s Bose clearance hits him straight in the face. He takes his time to get up but should be fine.

KBFC Booking: Pritam Kotal sees a yellow card for his late challenge on Kiyan. 

The passing channels are completely cut out for Mohun Bagan at the moment. Ferrando’s men are also trying the traditional long ball method, Vukomanovic’s men are dealing with that efficiently. 

A spell of Mohun Bagan pressure around the Blasters box. Cummings passes the ball to Kiyan on the left, who pings a cross inside the box. However, it is an easy collect for Sachin. 

Kerala Blasters is edging possession at the moment with 54% of the ball. 

Kerala Blasters is playing as a cohesive unit right now and not giving Mohun Bagan players any time on the ball. The Mariners front three of Boumous, Petratos and Cummings have not been able to get involved in the match at all till now. 

Diamantakos is enjoying the form of his life at the moment. He gets the ball just outside the Mariners box. He decides to go solo and dribbles past three Mohun Bagan players and rifles the ball onto the roof of the net from a tight angle. Kaith had no chance there.

Another good move by Kerala as Rahul KP and Azhar combine. Aimen is played a through ball and he makes his way inside the box. He delays his shot, which allows the Mariners backline to crowd him out and Kaith collects the ball. 

Kerala Blasters is showing this dogged attitude to win the ball back as soon as they lose it. Mohun Bagan players are yet to find their footing in the match. 

CLOSE- Kerala Blasters almost scores as Diamantakos hits the crossbar with his shot from inside the box. A diagonal from midfield split open the Mariners defence and Kaith was completely exposed as Diamnatakos took the shot. Kaith is not happy with his defenders. 

An open start to the match with the play being constricted to midfield in the opening minutes. 

The ISL 2023-24 match between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Kerala Blasters is underway at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata

Juan Ferrando, Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach: “Kerala Blasters FC are doing well. Of course, their emotional situation is much better because they won their last (two) matches. But what is most important is my team, and for me, it’s time to prepare for the next match and to be ready for the next match. Because all the time, the opponent is not in my hands. What is in my hands is my team and my players. This is the most important.”

Ivan Vukomanovic, Kerala Blasters head coach: “The best teams are the most dangerous when they are wounded. We must not think that it’s an easy job,” Vukomanovic stated in the pre-match press conference... they have a very good team, very good players and a very good coach and they are playing at (their) home. They want to prove themselves to everybody that they have quality.”

Mohun Bagan Super Giant: Vishal Kaith (GK), Brendan Hamill, Hector Yuste, Sumit Rathi, Manvir Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Deepak Tangri, Subashish Bose, Dimitri Petratos, Kiyan Nassiri, Jason Cummings.

Kerala Blasters: Sachin Suresh (GK), Pritam Kotal, Milos Drincic, Marko Leskovic, Naocha Singh, Rahul KP, Danish Farooq, Vibin Mohanan, Mohammed Aimen, Kwame Peprah, Dimitrios Diamantakos

Defending champion Mohun Bagan SG will be eager to stem the tide after suffering successive losses when it meets the title aspirant Kerala Blasters in an ISL-10 matchweek 12 fixture at home in the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

With injuries and suspensions keeping a good number of its first choice players off the list of availability, Mohun Bagan SG has found its fortunes deserting in the last few rounds.

After making a bright start to the tournament where it won five straight matches, Mohun Bagan saw its strength depleting just when the time came to meet the strong opponents like Mumbai City FC and FC Goa, both of whom handed out a defeat to the Kolkata giant.

Mohun Bagan SG’s beleaguered coach Juan Ferrando will be hoping to find adequate quality in the bench to string together a side that can take on the might of Kerala Blasters, which is arriving after convincingly outplaying Mumbai City FC at home.

Read full preview here: ​Struggling Mohun Bagan SG meets a thriving Kerala Blasters side in a high profile clash​

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ISL 2023-24: Struggling Mohun Bagan SG meets a thriving Kerala Blasters side in a high profile clash

Defending champion Mohun Bagan SG will be eager to stem the tide after suffering successive losses when it meets the title aspirant Kerala Blasters in a ISL-10 matchweek 12 fixture at home in the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

When and where is the match kicking-off?

The Mohun Bagan Super Giant vs Kerala Blasters ISL 2023-24 match will kick-off at 8:00 PM IST, Wednesday, December 27 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata. 

How can you watch the Mohun Bagan Super Giant vs Kerala Blasters ISL 2023-24 match in India?

The Mohun Bagan Super Giant vs Kerala Blasters ISL 2023-24 match will be live telecasted on the Sports18 1 Channel (TV). 

The game can also be live streamed on the JioCinema app and website (online). 

The game will be livestreamed on OneFootball for those watching from outside India.