Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Kerala Blasters vs Odisha FC Indian Super League match from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Sandeep Singh’s late goal prove enough as Kerala Blasters grabs a win against Odisha FC and reaches third spot on the table.
Kerala Blasters subs: In- Mongil, Ayush OUT- Luna, Jeakson
Amrinder makes a save as Nihal keeps his shot on target this time. There a chance brief moment of danger from the rebound as Luna was lurking around, but Amrinder recovers well to hold on to the ball.
Nihal cuts in and tries to find the far-corner with a shot. However, he does not connect well and the ball goes out for an Odisha goalkick.
Five minutes added at the end of the second-half. It is not over yet. There is enough time for a late twist.
Odisha sub: IN- Meitei OUT- Panwar
GOOOALLLLLL!!!! KERALA BLASTERS SCOREES!!!! SANDEEP SINGH FINDS THE NET!! Kerala Blasters has finally the lead as the crowd erupts inside the stadium. Amrinder Singh makes a huge error as he misses the cross sent in by Bryce Miranda from the left. The ball falls to Sandeep who heads the ball inside the empty goal. A late potential winner for KBFC.
BIG CHANCE- Jessel smashes a shot from the left, which sees the ball hit the post and come back into play. The rebound falls to Leskovic, who had to just tap the ball insdie the open net but chose to square the ball in the middle. The pass found no one and the chance is gone.
Kerala Blasters subs: IN- Miranda OUT- Sahal
Booking: Nahrender Gehlot sees a yellow card.
Sahal with almost a chance to put the ball inside an open net after going past Amrinder but Gehlot does extremely well to stay with him and make the all-important clearance.
Booking: Adrien Luna of Kerala Blasters becomes the latest player to see yellow after his challenge on Nandhakumar Sekar.
Jessel makes a run down the left again and shoots at goal, but sees his shot saved again.
Kerala Blasters subs: IN- Nihal, Apostolos OUT- Rahul KP, Diamantakos
Odisha FC sub: IN- Mauricio OUT- Victor
Diamantakos shoots as he is set up for the shot by Sahal. However, he fails to hit the target.
Odisha FC sub: IN- Jerry OUT- Isaac
A long ball from the back sets Sahal Samad through on the left. He looks to put in a cross but it is blocked out.
The second-half begins with both teams level at 0-0!!
Odisha FC clearly the better team in the first-half but scores are level at the break.
Two additional minutes at the end of the first-half!!
Booking: Rahul KP is shown a yellow card and he is not happy with the referee’s decision.
Victor makes his way inside the Kerala box and shoots with his weaker left foot. The shot is weak and the ball rolls meekly into the hands of Gill’s hand.
A good Odisha attack finishes with Sahil’s attempted cross inside the box from the left flank. The cross is blocked and Odisha has a corner.
Luna and Malik clash against each other as both went for the ball. Luna has come off worse in that coming together but he should be fine after some medical attention.
Booking: Kerala Blasters’ Sandeep Singh becomes the latest player to see yellow for his challenge on Isaac.
Booking: Nandhakumar Sekar of Odisha FC is shown a yellow card.
Booking: Kerala keeper Prabhsukhan Gill is shown a yellow card.
The free kick from the right finds the head of Odisha’s Carlos Delgado. He guides the ball towards goal with his head but it is a weak effort and it is an easy save for Gill.
Odisha FC is dominating possession with 53% of the ball compared to Kerala Blaster’s 47%.
Jessel makes a bursting run and gets inside the Odisha box. He gets a shot away from the left side of the box but cannot keep his effort down. Odisha FC gets a goalkick.
Odisha FC looks the likelier team to score at the moment. It is playing the better football and Kerala is under quite a bit of pressure here.
Kerala’s Sandeep Singh tries to find a teammate inside the box with a cross from the right but it is a disappointing delivery as the ball goes out of play.
Kaliuzhnyi again finds Diamantakos inside the Odisha box but time, the latter was offside when the ball was played to him.
Kaliuzhnyi almost finds Diamantakos with a through ball through a couple of Odisha players but Odisha keeper Amrinder Singh gets to the ball before Diamantakos.
Kerala tries to break the Odisha pressure with some snappy one-two passing on the right flank but Sahil showing a good workrate to cut the ball out and break the attacking flow.
Osama Malik is played a long ball as he made a run inside the box. However, the pass was a tad bit overhit and he could not control the ball as it went out of play for a Kerala goalkick.
Off the post- Raynier with a brilliant shot from outside the box as the ball rattles the crossbar and comes back into play. It wasn’t the best technique but Odisha inches away from getting an early lead.
Kerala Blasters pressing Odisha in the opening minutes of the first-half, but haven’t been able to pose any substantial threat. Odisha has kept the ball well.
Kerala Blasters and Odisha FC kick-off their match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Kerala Blasters vs Odisha FC head-to-head
Kerala Blasters vs Odisha FC Starting Lineups
Match Preview
When Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters last met in the ISL in late October, the Kochi team was on a losing streak. The Blasters had lost three matches in a row during that phase including the one against Odisha.
The Blasters are now going through a happy phase, having won five of their last six matches and drawing the other, the last encounter against Chennaiyin FC last week. The Blasters meet Odisha again at the Nehru Stadium here on Monday and the encounter promises to be interesting.
“I think this is one of the most important matches of the season because both of us have the same number of points (19). We have been playing good football lately, and so have they,” said Ishfaq Ahmed, the Blasters’ assistant coach.
“We respect them and their coach, but it’s a match on home soil for us. The support of fans and the home ground advantage tips the scales in our favour.”
Like Blasters, Odisha had drawn its last match (goalless against ATK Mohun Bagan) and before that it had suffered a 0-3 loss against FC Goa a couple of weeks ago.
“It is a very good game to play against a very good side in Kerala (Blasters),” said Odisha head coach Josep Gombau. “Every single player and coach wants to be involved in a game like this. Also, it is on the day after Christmas and I think getting a good result will be the best present for all our fans and families,” he said.
-Stan Rayan
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