NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) ended its Kalinga Cup campaign on a high as it thrashed Kerala Blasters 4-1 in a Group B match at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
For NEUFC, Parthib Sundar Gogoi, Mohammed Ali Bemamaer, Redeem Tlang and Jithin MS were the scorers. Dimitrios Diamantakos reduced the margin for Kerala Blasters.
With Jamshedpur FC having already qualified for the semi-finals from this group, the match was inconsequential for both teams. Understandably, the ISL sides were playing for bragging rights and NEUFC stamped its authority in the game convincingly.
The win helped NEUFC finish second in its group behind Jamshedpur FC with six points from three matches. Kerala Blasters finished third.
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NEUFC took the lead even before Kerala Blasters could settle into the match. In the second minute of the match, Gogoi beat his marker with pace and slotted the ball past Kerala goalkeeper easily.
Kerala Blasters tried to wage a fightback and came close to scoring at the stroke of halftime, but Hamza Regragui’s shot was saved by an onrushing NEUFC goalkeeper.
NEUFC extended its lead in the 68th minute when Bemmamaer’s low free-kick found the back of the net after a wicked deflection.
The Blasters finally scored when Diamantakos made a darting run to go past the NEUFC defenders and scored with a brilliant left-footed shot.
Blasters’ hopes of finding the equaliser was quickly extinguished when NEUFC scored its third goal. Tlang’s thunderous strike nestled into the net after a Blasters defender failed to clear a corner effectively.
NEUFC piled on more misery on Blasters when Jithin MS raced past a Blasters defender and the onrushing goalkeeper to score a fine goal.
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