As we sign off for the night, watch the Chennaiyin FC duo of Dhanpal Ganesh and Edwin Vanspaul talk about their football journey to the ISL, answer the difficult choice (!!) of picking between Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth and reveal the worst dancer in the dressing room.
It's a big match in the ISL tomorrow as Chennaiyin FC takes on ATK in chase of a play-off place. Read our preview and we will be back again with the live coverage for that.
Here is the updated points table as Blasters make the jump to seventh on the table.
Credit to Schhatorie, who had said in the pre-match that he knew how to beat Bengaluru FC. He has backed it up with finding a way to get that win over the defending champions. Seems like no Blasters fan is leaving the stadium yet. The players and the coaching staff bow down to their supporters as they end the night and their home leg of the season with a round of viking claps.
91'+8' Messi wins a corner and that's the end of that. Ogbeche goals give Kerala Blasters its first win over Bengaluru FC in six attempts. It's all sporting in the end with both sets of players shaking each others hands. Bengaluru players have a word with the match referee, possibly about the penalty awarded for the winner.
Drobarov was booked in the middle of all that. We are into the eighth minute of added time. Blasters fans are already celebrating.
Bilal Khan is down on the ground now as Ogbeche is okay to continue.
Things are kicking off a bit here as we approach the final whistle.Ogbeche is down on the floor after a clash of heads. Khabra and Jessel in a heated row. Referee splits them up.
91'+4' Bheke gets his head to it but heads it over the bar. Hands on head from him.
91'+4' Blasters are struggling to clear their lines as Bengaluru wins a corner
91'+3' Serran goes down inside Blasters box but the referee waves away the appeals.
91'+2' Gurpreet takes a free kick near the halfway line and the ball goes behind a goal kick.
91'+2' Blasters SUB: Sahal goes off for Rafi.
Bilal booked for wasting time as five minutes are added on.
90' CHANCE! Paartalu pushes forward and gets on the end of a cross from Khabra from the right. But the big Aussie can't keep his header on target.
86' Lalrutthara living dangerously on the Blasters right flank making these fouls while already being on a yellow. Another foul by him this time on Nishu. No complaints from the Bengaluru players.
85' A yellow card for Rahul after having just come on.
83' Haokip flagged offside on the right side.
80' Frater wins a free-kick on the left side after being sandwiched by Sahal and Gning.
The Blasters fans are enjoying this now with their team playing the ball around.
77' Blasters SUB: Rahul comes on for Narzary.
77' Bengaluru SUB: Nili off for Frater.
75' Dimas picks out Nishu's run and Bilal beats the left-back to the ball. He ought to count himself lucky as he could have brought Nishu down with that challenge.
72' GOAL! Ogbeche wrong foots Gurpreet before slotting the ball into the net! The home crowd is off its seat! Blasters are in front against Bengaluru!
Ogbeche could give his side the lead from the spot.
70' PENALTY FOR BLASTERS! A long ball into the box and Messi Bouli is pulled down by Serran with a tug of his shirt. Referee awards the spot kick and Bengaluru players are all over the referee. But he remains unmoved and rightly so.
68' SAVE! Narzary with a stinging effort which was heading into the top corner and Gurpreet redeems himself this time with an one-handed save!
67' Blasters players are incensed! The referee awards a free-kick for BFC after Haokip goes down after he is inadvertently tripped over after his foot is caught by a Blasters player. Dimas' free-kick is off target!
65' Narzary gets on the end of a defensive header from Khabra outside the area. He chests it down and takes a shot which lacks power. The ball safely rolls into the hands of Gurpreet.
Schattorie as usual is eccentric on the touchline.
60' Bengaluru SUB: Goal-scorer Brown is coming off for Haokip.
Cuadrat readying another sub here. Haokip, fresh of his four goals from mid-week, is ready to come on.
58' CHANCE! A cross from Narzary from the left falls kindly onto the path of Sahal and he comes in to take a shot at goal which is blocked by Nishu!
Ashique looks to play in a through ball in between Blasters' defence after running the length of the pitch from the right.
56' A dangerous pass from the back by Blasters which Suresh (obviously!) intercepts and plays in Ashique on the left. The winger cuts in from the right and has a crack at goal which Drobarov blocks to send it behind for a corner.
54' Some good play on the right side between Sahal and Lalruatthara but the latter's cross goes behind for a goal kick.
50' Bengaluru sub: Another sub-par display from Udanta. That's his last chance for the night as Ashique Kuruniyan comes on in his place.
47' Nili again plays Udanta behind Blasters' back line. Udanta takes three touches running through on goal and takes the ball slightly away from goal which allows Lalruatthara to get back and win the ball back in the box.
46' Blasters kicks off the second period.
SECOND HALF
That's the final action of the half and we go in all-square at the break. Cuadrat is not happy and he walks into the pitch to have a word with the referees. Nicely set up here for the second half and we will be back in 15.
45'+3' GOAL!! And he has done it again! A lay off outside the box and Ogbeche puts his laces through it! The shot is straight at Gurpreet but the ball bursts through his defence and goes in behind him for an equaliser.
Can Ogbeche punish the Blues with a thunderbolt from this free-kick? He has done it before this season.
45' +1' Ogbeche is hacked down by Serran outside BFC's box. Serran is booked for that challenge.
44' Poor from Udanta... Nili plays Udanta in for an one-on-one chance against the 'keeper but the winger is caught in two minds which allows the Blasters defence to regroup.
43' From a short corner, Carnerio has a go at goal from 30 yards out which is swirls away from the top-corner.
Brown picks up a yellow card for coming onto the pitch without the referee's permission.
42' Ogbeche plays in Lalruatthara behind BFC's defence and the right-back swings in a cross into the box. Ogbeche gets on the end of it and volleys it towards goal but Bheke throws his body behind to block it.
Blasters with a sustained spell with possession. Can it convert it into a meaningful chance?
38' Bilal with a punch away from Dimas' free-kick into the box. Brown gets on the rebound and tries to have another crack at goal but his shot is blocked.
36' Nishu wins a free-kick on the left side after Lalruatthara brings him down. Nishu seems to have hurt himself as the physio comes out to check on him.
Bengaluru seemingly in control of this contest as they are controlling the pace of the play, with Blasters devoid of any momentum.
31' A corner for BFC after Jessel cuts out Suresh's pass to Udanta. BFC goes a short corner and the ball is somehow played all the way back to Gurpreet.
30' Ogbeche gets his head on to the corner but its off target.
29' Lalruatthara wins a corner after his cross is blocked out by Suresh on the left sid.! This lad is everywhere.
Cido is having an ice pack strapped around his ankle as he grimaces in pain.
25' Gning uses his strength to shake off a BFC defencer inside the box and put in a cross into the box where Messi gets on the end of. Messi unleashes a left-footed shot but it's off target!
A back three for Kerala as Zuiverloon slots in the middle of a three-man defence.
24'Blasters sub: Cidoncha seems to have picked up a knock and he has to go off. Zuiverloon replaces him.
22' Weak effort from Ogbeche from outside the box as the ball tepidly rolls into the hands of Gurpreet.
17' A chance to equalise immediately from the restart. Narzary wrong foots Bheke before swinging in a cross from the left. Messi gets a strong header but it's straight at Gurpreet, who pouches it on the line.
BFC coach Cuadrat enjoyed that goal. The goal takes the side a point behind ATK, which has two games in hand.
16' GOAL! And just out of nothing Bengaluru scores! Bengaluru wins the ball in its own half and Suresh punts the ball forward which Brown gets on the end of... but what was Bilal doing there by rushing out of his area. Brown's first touch isn't the greatest as the ball gets away from him but Bilal's decision making costs him. Brown's momentum helps him get on the end of the ball again and just has the simple chance of putting the ball into the empty net.
14' Another corner for Kerala as Cido's cross by the byline is blocked by Suresh Wangjam. The resulting corner from Drobarov is off target.
This has been a good start from Blasters.
10' Gning gets a strong header from the corner and is on target but BFC gets bodies in place to block the effort.
9' Messi with a strong run into the box after Lalruatthara won the ball near the halfway line. But Nili tracks back to help out his defence and the ball is deflected behind for a corner.
8' Nice turn from Sahal on the right flank to release Messi behind Blasters' defence to chase down the ball.
5' CHANCE! Good win of the ball from Udanta in the middle of the park and he makes a piercing run into the six-yard area to get to the end of Nishu's precise ball into the box! His finish is off the mark and it's a let off for Blasters.
3' Bengaluru miss its timing with a set-piece routine from the left flank. Dimas a second late in playing the pass and Nili is flagged offside.
1' It's kick-off in Kochi as Bengaluru play from left to right in its white kit.
FIRST HALF
7.24 pm: The players make their way out to the middle. Kick-off just minutes away. Good turn-out in Kochi by the looks of it.
7.21 pm: Fantastic promo by the official broadcaster in the build up for this contest. I seemingly missed out the time BFC's former coach Albert Roca kicking the ball against a Blasters player. Despite being a one-sided rivalry so far, tempers do flare when these two sides meet.
7.16 pm: BFC's Gurpreet has kept 10 clean-sheets this season, the most by a goalkeeper in a single season. The Blues have conceded just 9 goals so far. He will be put to test in the absence of Juanan.
While we count down to kick-off, take 12 minutes out to watch the Chennaiyin FC duo of Dhanpal Ganesh and Edwin Vanspaul talk about their football journey to the ISL, answer the difficult choice (!!) of picking between Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth and reveal the worst dancer in the dressing room.
6.55 pm: "I know how to beat them. I know their tactics and where their weaknesses are." Strong words from Schattorie. He has faced BFC five times while coaching both NorthEast United and Blasters, and has won just once.
6.53 pm: A good chance for Blasters to get their first win over Bengaluru in the ISL. So for they have played them five times and have lost four of them.
6.51 pm: New signing Kevaughn Frater makes the bench for BFC.
6.50 pm: For Bengaluru, Chhetri misses out after his outburst after the match against Chennaiyin FC earned him his fourth yellow of the season. Key central defender Juanan is also suspended for this tie. But BFC will be buoyed with its scoring form coming into this contest after putting nine past Paro FC in the AFC Cup preliminary round. Brown and Thongkhoseim Haokip scored three and four goals, respectively on that night. Bengaluru will only call on Haokip from the bench for this match.
6.46 pm: And true to his word, Schattorie puts out a strong starting XI. Sahal gets successive starts and will likely play from the wing with Messi Bouli back in the XI.
6.28 pm: Schattorie has promised the best starting XI against Bengaluru. We are just minutes away from kick-off.
Our correspondent M.R. Praveen Chandran brings you the match preview
There is nothing at stake except pride when Kerala Blasters takes on Bengaluru FC in its last home match of the season in the Hero ISL at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Saturday.
The Blues had a measure of the yellow bridge in the five previous meetings between the two sides but Kerala Blasters’ Dutch coach Eelco Schattorie believes he knows the formula to beat Bengaluru.
As coach of NorthEast United last season, Schattorie plotted the downfall of the Blues even without his top players and that has made him firmly believe that he can achieve the same with Kerala Blasters.
- Strong Mentality -
“I know exactly how to beat them and I know where their weakness are. But their strength is that they are a top club. They have been always up there. So structurally they are doing something very well and they have got the right formula. They have a strong mentality. All credit to the coach, for being able to score off some set-pieces. Even when you are not playing well, you win because you score off some set-piece,’’ said the Dutchman on the eve of the match against Bengaluru.
Schattorie stressed that his team will be playing for a win against Bengaluru and said he will put up the best possible line-up for achieving that. The coach said that Barthlomew Ogbeche, who has been in fine form this season scoring 11 goals and providing an assist, will again be the key man for Kerala Blasters against the Blues.
“We are not playing for charity. We are playing professional football and always looking for a win. I will do everything I can to get three points,’’ he said.
Fan support
Despite the huge fan support, Blasters have won just two matches at home and the club will be hoping to sign off the season with a win. Having made the play offs, the visitors, according to their coach Carles Cuadrat expects a tough match from Kerala Blasters.
“We know how good supporters they have. When they are playing the champions, I am sure it will be a great motivation for them to finish the season with a nice game at home and a victory against us. I am expecting a great game like in Chennai. It was a lot of passion, things happening in the stands... It’s great for football and it is going to be exciting,’’ said the coach.
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