That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!
Home team ATK stays at third in the 2019-20 ISL standings, behind FC Goa and Bengaluru FC, with 21 points from 12 games. Meanwhile Kerala moves to sixth, above Chennaiyin Fc and Jamshedpur FC, with 14 points from 12 matches.
Kerala Blasters officially does the double on ATK this season. Its head coach Eelco Schattorie must be a very happy man. However, his counterpart Antonio Habas might miss two games after being ejected off the field towards the end of the game.
AND THE MATCH IS DONE AND DUSTED!!!!
90+5' Roy Krishna falls inside the box but the referee gives the decision against ATK. If that was a dive why didn't the official book him there. ATK players surrounding the referee in protest. But nothing doing.
90+3' A big tussle on the sidelines right now. Antonio Habas is sent to the stands. He might miss up to two games. Sanjoy Sen (ATK) and Ishfaq Ahmed (Kerala Blasters) are having a go at each other now. Insane scenes near both the dugouts.
90' OFFSIDE!!! At least six ATK players were offside there. A wonderful offside trap from the Kerala Blasters. Five minutes to be added on!
89' YELLOW CARD! The sub Prasanth is penalised for time wasting here. Jobby Justin was brought down by Carneiro a few seconds ago.
88' SOME THEATRICS HERE! Mongil brought down Messi Bouli to concede a foul. Mandi Sosa just kicked a rolling ball on to Messi who just could have won the Golden Globes with that level of acting and rolling on the ground. YELLOW CARD! However, Mandi Sosa is booked for his act.
85' VERY CLOSE!!! Kerala could have easily taken a 2-0 lead there. Arques with a long ball into the box and it wasn't cleared well by Mongil, thereby landing at Messi Bouli's feet. But the Kerala forward's shot on target is blocked away by Arindam. GOOD SAVE!!!
83' SUBSTITUTION!!! First one of the match for the Kerala Blasters. The goal-scorer Halicharan Narzary makes way for Prasanth Karuthadathkuni for Eelco Schattorie's side.
80' CLOSE!!! Roy Krishna almost equalised there with his shot. SAVE! But TP Rehenesh's inch-perfect dive denies ATK an equaliser.
79' CHANCE!!! Messi Bouli with another move forward and he tries to find his skipper Ogbeche at the edge of the box. But a good Sumit Rathi sliding tackle gets the ball away for ATK.
76' Remember Kerala Blasters has not won a single game this season after taking the lead. Will the streak be broken today?
73' CHANCE!!! Messi Bouli woth another pass to Ogbeche just outside the box but the Kerala captain's shot is straight at Arindam this time.
70' GOALLLLLLL!!!! KERALA TAKES THE LEAD!!! NARZARY SCORES! Poor stuff from the ATK defence. Arindam could have done better with the save as well. A number of weak header from ATK players finally fell to Halicharan Narzary who got a free shot at goal from just outside the box. Absolutely no one blocked him. And he utilised the situation to give his side the 1-0 lead.
68' CHANCE!! Javi Hernandez to Jobby Justin to Roy Krishna who puts in a low cross into the box. But it has no takers. This is where ATK misses David Williams who gets into the right place at the right time.
65' ANOTHER CHANGE! Moments later, Habas substitutes Balwant Singh for Jobby Justin. There's a loud cheer from the crowd as the change happens.
64' SUBSTITUTION DUE TO INJURY! ATK is forced to make a change here. Agustin Iniguez looks to be in some sort of discomfort here. Head coach Antonio Lopes Habas makes an attacking change by bringing on Jayesh Rane for Agus.
61' SHOT! Javier Hernandez lets one fly from long. But it misses the target by a mile. And some more time wasting by TP Rehenesh of Kerala here. The referee warns him. There should be at least 10 minutes of stoppage time added on in the second half for all the time wasting so far.
58' CLOSE!! Once again, Prabir Das and Roy Krishna combine well. This time they set up Balwant Singh in the end. However, the Indian forwad hits it way off target.
57' CHANCE! Prabir Das with a good through ball towards Roy Krishna who just went on a sprint. But Rakip once again tracks back in time to deny ATK a goal scoring opportunity.
54' CORNER FOR KERALA! Poor clearance from Pritam Kotal. However, the Blasters mess up yet another set-piece.
52' ANOTHER FOUL!! Another free-kick for the Kerala Blasters. This time Sumit Rathi executed a silly tackle on Seityasen.
50' FOUL!! Balwant Singh just elbows Rakip down. But he gets away without any caution. The Kerala defender is bleeding here. The medical staff come in.
47' CHANCE!! Long ball from Kerala's Rakip. It falls to Messi Bouli who heads it towards Ogbeche but Agustin gets in between and passes the ball back to his keeper Arindam.
THE FINAL 45 MINUTES ARE UNDERWAY!
Both ATK and Kerala Blasters had so many clear-cut chances to score in this match. But both teams kept missing chance after chance. Too many time wasted in between as well. Players from both sides just kept arguing with the referee, linesmen and fourth official. Poor stuff overall! Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned folks.
AND THE FIRST HALF IS OVER!
45+2' A couple of corners and another free-kick for ATK in the last two minutes and the home side wastes every single chance. All the four set-pieces were cleared away very easily by Kerala.
45' Just two minutes to be added on! FREE-KICK FOR ATK!! Kerala's Narzary with a handball. Javi Hernandez takes it and Ogbeche clears it away.
44' Again too much time being wasted on arguments here. Finally ATK is going to take the kick. CLOSE ! Mandi Sosa takes the kick and his shot just missed the target.
42' FREE-KICK FOR ATK!! This is from a dangerous position. Roy Krishna was brought down by Narzary just inches outside the box. However, replays suggest there was no foul in it.
40' SHOT! Selfish play from Narzary here. He had options on both sides but the Kerala player just goes for glory and misses the target. YELLOW CARD!!! Javier Hernandez is booked for arguing too much with the referee.
38' OFFSIDE!! Kerala had just initiated a counter-attack with Ogbeche attempting to make a pass forward to Messi Bouli but he was a tad offside. Good call from the linesman.
36' The free-kick resulted in a corner for ATK. AND A VERY GOOD CHANCE! Soosairaj took it and Roy Krishna's header almost went in as Kerala keeper Rehenesh came forward to punch the ball away and totally missed it. Ogbeche makes the much needed goalline clearance for his side.
34' YELLOW CARD!!! Prabir Das was sprinting forward with the ball for ATK and Mario Arques, who looked tired, just pulled him back to take a card for the team.
31' GOOD TACKLE! Messi Bouli was at the edge of the trying dribble past Sumit Rathi. But the ATK player executes a perfect sliding tackle to regain possession for his side.
28' After a few moments, the corner is finally taken. Ogbeche gets to the ball but his header is off target and the Kerala players are appealing for another corner, which is not given.
26' FREE-KICK FOR KERALA! The Blasters are passing well here. And now, Seityasen was trying to put in a cross. Mandi Sosa tried to block it but the ball just brushed his hand before going out. Seityasen will once again take the kick. AND IT'S A CORNER FOR KERALA NOW!
24' CROSS!! Messi Bouli with a good run on the right flank for Kerala but his cross attempt to find Ogbeche in the middle goes straight to Arindam.
22' There have been too many stoppages in this game so far. Too many fouls, too many injury breaks and too many arguments with the referee and linesmen.
20' Seityasen Singh takes the free-kick. It falls straight into the hands of ATK shot-stopper Arindam. No issues whatsoever. A chance gone by for Kerala.
18' FOUL!! ATK's Prabir Das brings down an opponent with an arm. Poor tackle. Chance for Kerala to find a breakthrough.
16' INJURY! Looks like Hakku has a cut on his leg. Kerala's medical staff come in. The defender had collided with Balwant and now he looks fine.
13' CORNER FOR ATK! A poor one from the home team as Drobarov clears it away with ease. Just a reminder, Messi Bouli has five goals and one assist from the last six games. Massive!
11' CHANCE!!! Poor corner taken by Kerala. The ball falls straight to ATK captain Roy Krishna who races towards goal on the counter. Rakip tracks back in time to avert the danger.
9' SHOT!! Narzary with a stinger from long. ATK keeper Arindam makes the save. The rebound falls to Messi Bouli who execeutes an one-two pass with his skipper Ogbeche, however, the ATK defence clears the ball away.
7' COUNTER-ATTACK! Balwant Singh takes it forward for ATK. He passes it to Soosairaj, who is dispossessed by Hakku. Brilliant tackle from the Kerala player.
5' CORNER!!! Kerala Blasters wins the first corner of the day. Bit of a warning sign for ATK. Kerala goes for a variation but it misfires terribly.
2' ATK almost scored within the first two minutes of this game. Wasn't a very close chance but the home side has clearly started well. Soosairaj is troubling Seityasen and Rakip already on his flank.
THE MATCH IS UNDERWAY!
A win will take ATK to the top of the 2019-20 ISL standings above FC Goa and Bengaluru FC. On the other hand, Kerala Blasters will move to sixth above Jamshedpur FC and Chennaiyin FC with a victory in this game.
The match will begin in a few minutes!
TEAM LINEUPS:
MATCH PREVIEW:
ATK is set to lock horns with Kerala Blasters in what should be an electric Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Sunday.
ATK, a two-time champion, and Kerala Blasters, a two-time runner-up, have some history between them in the ISL. On both occasions that ATK won the title, it was the side from Kochi that it vanquished in the final.
However, Kerala is unbeaten in the last five matches against ATK and the home team will want to turn the tables this time, especially given that Kerala defeated it 2-1 in the reverse fixture in Kochi in the opening game of the season.
“In the opening game, they didn’t know anything about us and we didn’t know anything about them. This game I know exactly where their weaknesses are and how are they scoring. I have a good game plan. I have never lost against ATK. So, I hope to get another win,” said Kerala Blasters coach Eelco Schattorie.
ATK has been in brilliant form this season, with the in-form duo of Roy Krishna and David Williams powering the attack that has scored 21 goals in 11 matches -- second only to FC Goa. Krishna and Williams alone have contributed 13 goals.
READ | Kerala returns to winning ways with 5-1 thumping
However, Williams’ participation in this game is doubtful, after he picked up an injury. “We don’t know whether Williams will play. We will decide before the match. But my idea of football is not dependent on individuals,” said ATK coach Antonio Habas.
Habas received telling contributions from the Indian players, with Pronay Halder and Michael Soosairaj scoring in the win over Mumbai City FC in the last match. The likes of Prabir Das and Sumit Rathi have also impressed.
“I understand perfectly the Indian players. We have good Indian players. For us it is easy. Pritam (Kotal), Arindam (Bhattacharya), Prabir are all good players. Sumit is a top player too. He has good ideas and is a good defender. (Give him a) couple of years more, he could be in the national team,” said Habas.
It is no surprise that it sits third on the table with 21 points and will go level with FC Goa at the top with a win. Kerala Blasters also has an in-form strike partnership in Raphael Messi Bouli and Bartholomew Ogbeche, contributing 11 goals so far.
But the defence has been plagued by injuries and inconsistencies that has seen it pick just two wins in 11 matches. The second of those wins came in the last match, a resounding 5-1 win in which both Messi and Ogbeche found the net.
“We are the only team with seven foreigners and out of them, six have been injured (at some point in time). We have struggled with our defence. In the midfield also we have had to make constant changes. I have not been able to field the same XI in two successive games,” said Schattorie.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar and Star Sports network from 7.30 pm.
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