Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of this evening's SC East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters Indian Super League (ISL 2021-22) clash played at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa. This was Aneesh Dey bringing you all the pre-match buildup and live updates from the match.
That is all for today. We will see you tomorrow when Hyderabad FC takes on NorthEast United FC at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. Thanks for tuning in. Goodnight and take care.
Post-match comments
Adrian Luna (Hero of the match): "I am not happy because we did not win the game. We could not find an opening after we scored the first goal. We had difficulty breaking the low block. It was hard to break East Bengal because all 11 men were behind the ball. Now, we have to focus on the next match and winning three points."
( Adrian Luna is visibly frustrated with the referee in his post-match comments. This is with respect to Vazquez's disallowed goal in the 15th-minute ).
Tomislav Mrcela: "It was a hard game. It was a fair result in the end. We created some chances but overall, both teams did a great job today. We showed more intensity and defended well and I think that is an improvement from the earlier games. We are not quite happy with the result but we have to take positives."
Ivan Vukomanovic (Kerala Blasters Head Coach): "I always try to stay positive. I focused on the game despite everything that happened in the game today. We have to focus on our team otherwise it will just become shouting and that will put pressure on the players. I focus on tactical stuff, improving every possible aspect of our game. We were compact and played with great intensity. Sometimes you get difficult games today. Maybe we deserved more because I feel we were the better side today but that is football."
Full-time!! (SC East Bengal 1-1 Kerala Blasters FC)
90+2' End-to-end play right now as both teams threatening the opponent's goal. There is still enough time for late drama.
Five additional minutes!!
90' Shot- Dervisevic with a great shot on the volley but the ball takes a deflection and goes out for a corner.
87' A good spell of pressure by Kerala leads to a good ball inside the box, which is headed inside the goal by Diaz, But it is disallowed as he fouled Mrcela before slotted the ball inside the net.
84' Jairu attempts a cross from the left flank but Vincy prevents the ball from going inside the box.
81' Save- SC East Bengal with a dangerous counter attack with Perosevic breaking away. He does well to carry the ball and get his shot away. Gill does well to send the ball out for a corner.
80' KBFC Subs- Pereyra Diaz and Vincy Barretto replace Vazquez and Prasanth.
79' Save- Vazquez with a thunderous shot but Shankar holds his ground to punch the effort away.
77' Vazquez attempts to catch Shankar ooff his line by attempting a shot from the halfway line. The ball sails miles over the crossbar.
Match resumes!!
Drinks break!!
74' Shot- Dervisevic attempts a curler with his right foot from the edge of the KBFC box but his shot is blocked well.
72' The game seems to have fizzled out. It just needs a bit of spark from either team.
68' SCEB Subs- Amir Dervisevic, Wahengbam Luwang and Bikash Jairu replace Chima, Amarjit and Hnamte.
67' A good spell of pressure from KBFC. East Bengal being made to chase the ball right now.
65' Booking- SCEB's Hnamte become the latest player to see yellow.
61' KBFC Sub- Nishu Kumar replaces Sandeep.
59' Perosevic with an inspiring run, doing well to shield the ball from KBFC players but the referee ends up giving a foul against him. The Croatian is not happy.
57' Possession stat: The Tuskers dominating the ball with 64% possession compared to SCEB's 36%.
54' Shot- Hira Mondal shoots from distance. It is an ambitious effort but the ball is nowhere near the goal.
51' A long ball pinged inside the box by KBFC. Chencho tries to keep it in play but the weight of the pass was too much.
47' Good pressing by SC East Bengal in its own half. It is not allowing KBFC much time on the ball.
46' KBFC Sub- Chencho Gyeltshen comes in for Sahal.
46' Official confirmation - KBFC's goal has been credited to Vazquez and not Mrcela.
We are back for the second half!!
HT: The whistles blow and both sides move in for the break on level terms.
44' GOOAAAALL! KBFC right back in it! Agony for Mrcela who's on the score-sheet against his side's wishes. Vasquez gets the ball at the edge of the SCEB box and aims to put it to the far right. The ball crashes into Mrcela who leaps up and deflects swiftly into the net! Mrcela's moment of joy is struck off within the half-time whistle!
43' SUB (KBFC) - Abdul Hakku comes in for Sipovic who's gone off with some niggle.
40' Sipovic will continue till half-time.
39' Worrying signs for Kerala Blasters as Sipovic seems to have injured himself.
37' GOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! SC East Bengal scores!! Its Tomislav Mrcela!! Assist goes to Raju Gaikwad, who dispatched one of his trademark long throws. Mrcela does well to head the ball inside the net.
33' Shot- KBFC's Prasanth shoots from distance but it is nowhere near the goal.
Match resumes!!
Drinks break!!
29' Sipovic and Haokip goes for the ball but the former comes off worse after Haokip's stray elbow catches him on the nose.
27' Perosevic drills a cross across goal from the right but it has too much weight on it and misses everyone inside the box.
25' Perosevic with a good chance to dispatch a shot but Sipovic does well to snatch the ball away from him.
23' Booking- SCEB's Amarjit Kiyam becomes the second SCEB player to see yellow.
20' Save- Antonio Perosevic does well to cut inside to his preferred left-foot at the edge of the box. He curls a shot at Gill's near-post but the keeper does well to keep the ball out of the net.
19' Vazquez cannot keep his shot on the target. Goalkick to SCEB.
18' Its a freekick to Kerala for Amarjit's initial handball in a dangerous position.
17' GOAL DISALLOWED!! The referee, after a detailed discussion with his assistants, decides to overturn the goal.
16' Hold on. The referee blew the whistle before Vazquez slotted the ball inside the net. The referee having a talk with his assistants. East Bengal stopped play after hearing the whistle.
15' GOOOAAALLL!!! Kerala Blasters scores!! Its Vazquez!!
14' Hmante passes to Chima who completely misses the ball. He does well to win a throw for his team though.
11' Booking- SCEB's Haokip becomes the first player to see yellow for the night for his challenge on Sipovic.
9' A good corner by Perosevic as it finds Prce who heads the ball towards goal. Jeakson does well to keep it out.
8' A good break by Perosevic as SCEB hits KBFc on the counter. Perosevic carries the ball a long way, twisting and turning before trying to get his shot away. But it is blocked and the ball goes out for a corner.
7' SCEB gives two players their first start of the season today- Sankar Roy and Thongkhosiem Haokip.
4' SCEB keeper Sankar and KBFC's Jessel goes for the ball. Sankar does well to reach the ball and thrust it away from danger. Jessel takes a tumble but no penalty shouts.
2' Some messy play by SC East Bengal's backline as Kerala Blasters press. It looks the dominant side in the early stages of the match.
1' Kick-off!!
7:30 PM- And we are underway!!
7:15 PM- What are the coaches saying ahead of the match?
SC East Bengal coach Manuel Diaz on the opponent: "Kerala Blasters FC are a compact team, they have warriors, it is difficult to beat them. They play good football during the 90 minutes and it will be a complicated match."
Kerala Blasters coach Ivan Vukomanovic on Albino Gomes: "We will definitely be missing him as our goalkeeper because he was a part of our team. But we are looking for other goalkeeping options, Gill [Prabhsukan] is a young, promising goalkeeper who is working hard and we’re staying 100% behind them. So, we have full confidence in goal for Sunday, no problem whatsoever."
7:00 PM- Key players!!
Antonio Perosevic (SC East Bengal): The Croatian bagged two goals and had three shots on target in the last match against FC Goa. He also has an assist to his tally this season.
Adrian Luna (Kerala Blasters): The attacking midfielder assisted both goals, the Tuskers scored in the last match. His tally of assists is now up to three. The Uruguayan is central to the KBFC movement in attack.
6:45 PM- Stat: SC East Bengal has only won one match out of 16 matches they have played at the Tilak Maidan. The Red and Gold brigade has drawn seven and lost eight matches.
6:30 PM- Official lineups are out!!
SC East Bengal Playing XI: Sankar Roy (GK), Tomislav Mrcela (C), Hira Mondal, Raju Gaikwad, Franjo Prce, Sourav Das, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Amarjit Kiyam, Antonio Perosevic, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Daniel Chukwu.
Subs: Suvam (GK), Daniel, Adil, Joyner, Luwang, Dervisevic, Jairu, Naorem.
Coach: Manuel Diaz
Kerala Blasters Playing XI: Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Enes Sipovic, Sandeep Singh, Jessel Carneiro (C), Marko Leskovic, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Sahal Samad, Adrian Luna, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Jeakson Singh, Alvaro Vazquez.
Subs: Sachin (Gk), Nishu, Meitei, Abdul, Givson, Seityasen, Vincy, Diaz, Chencho.
Coach: Ivan Vukomanovic
6:15 PM- Here's what happened when both teams met last time!!
6:00 PM- What is the team news from both the camps?
SC East Bengal: Jose Manuel Diaz said that Arindam Bhattacharya, Jackichand Singh and Darren Sidoel are still injured and unavailable for selection.
Kerala Blasters FC: KBFC's no.1 keeper Albino Gomes has sustained an injury in its last match against Odisha FC. He will be sent for an examination once the swelling subsides. In the pre-match press conference, Ivan Vukomanovic informed the media that Rahul KP will be back in training soon and won’t require surgery.
5:45 PM- Here's how we think the two sides could line up today!!
SC East Bengal Predicted XI (4-4-2): Suvam Sen (GK), Franjo Prce, Tomislav Mrcela (C), Raju Gaikwad, Hira Mondal, Bikash Jairu, Amir Dervisevic, Amarjit Kiyam, Sourav Das, Naorem Singh, Antonio Perosevic.
Kerala Blasters Predicted XI (4-4-2): Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Enes Sipovic, Jessel Carneiro (C), Marko Leskovic, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Harmanjot Khabra, Sahal Samad, Adrian Luna, Jeakson Singh, Vincy Barretto and Alvaro Vazquez.
MATCH PREVIEW: Kerala Blasters keen to build momentum with clash against East Bengal
Victory tastes very sweet. And after tasting his first victory of the Indian Super League (ISL) season, against Odisha FC in the last game, Kerala Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic wants the lovely taste to linger longer.
“It's a nice feeling when you win and as a team we want to continue that. In football, you have teams, we call them 'sometimes team' or 'sometimes players', you know they are good some times. The great teams and players, they are good every time. We want to become an 'every time team',” said the Serbian ahead of Saturday's match against SC East Bengal at the Tilak Maidan, Mormugao.
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“So, whatever happens on the pitch, we want to show energy. In the last game, everyone was fighting for points till the end, this is what we would like to do.”
The Blasters have five points from a win, a loss and two draws while East Bengal is at the bottom of the league table with just two points and without a win. But Vukomanovic would not take Jose Manuel Diaz's boys, who lost 3-4 against FC Goa in its last game, lightly.
“East Bengal is a good team. All the games are different. We are trying out different styles and from time to time, we want to change these things and explore styles depending on our opponent,” said Vukomanovic.
The Blasters will be without their main goalkeeper Albino Gomes, who picked up a knee injury in the last match.
“But there other good young goalkeepers like (Prabhsukhan) Gill,” said the coach.
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