Kerala Blasters regained its winning form as it prevailed over a struggling SC East Bengal by a solitary goal in the return-leg match of ISL-8, at Tilak Maidan Stadium on Monday.
Bosnian defender Enes Sipovic found the target off a second-half corner to secure the full quota of points for Blasters, which climbed to the third spot netting 26 points from 15 matches.
AS IT HAPPENED |
The first half ended goalless as East Bengal defence stood firm in the face of relentless attacking from the Blasters. The latter hardly got a clear look at the goal as the East Bengal back-line stuck to its task, clearing almost all the opposition moves entering its box.
Looking to regain the winning form after suffering a setback in the previous round, the Blasters enjoyed a greater share of ball possession but failed to produce the decisive finish in the striking zone.
Having effectively neutralised the opposition offensives, East Bengal started searching the goal route midway through the action and got a fine scoring opportunity in the 42nd minute when Croatian forward Antonio Perosevic set up a nice cross on the Blasters goalmouth.
The chance went abegging as the East Bengal forward Rahul Paswan failed to tap the ball into an open goal.
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Blasters managed to find the elusive goal almost immediately after the break from a set-piece situation in the 49th minute. The break came in a nice fashion as Puitea curled a corner deep into the East Bengal box where the towering Sipovic jumped above the opposition defenders to nod home the decisive lead.
The goal brought big relief to the Blasters camp and Sipovic deservedly celebrated the achievement mimicking the protagonist of the hit movie ‘Pushpa’.
East Bengal tried to get back into the match and found a couple of good chances which it failed to convert thanks to the alertness of the Blasters goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill.
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