Kerala Blasters displaced Jamshedpur FC from the top of the Indian Super League table on Wednesday night with a win over a stuttering Odisha. The Blasters beat the Juggernauts 2-0 at the Tilak Maidan on Wednesday night, stretching their unbeaten run to 10 games.
In doing so, Ivan Vukomanovic’s men extended their unbeaten run to 10 games; they haven’t lost a game in the ISL since their opening week defeat against ATK Mohun Bagan (2-4; November 11).
.@IMVijayan1 when asked about KBFC on 23rd Nov.
— 90ndstoppage (@90ndstoppage) January 12, 2022
"It's only the first match. I have hope and belief that they will come back stronger after this defeat (4-2 against ATK Mohun Bagan)." 🟡🐘
Since then Kerala Blasters FC have gone 10 games (5W,5D) unbeaten in the league.#KBFC
Kerala dominated territory early on and created the game’s first handful of half-chances but, an Odisha break in the 26th minute nearly resulted in the opening goal of the game against the run of play. Issac Vanmalsawma, released down the right, played an early ball into the feet of Javi Hernandez and, as the forward turned his marker and got his shot away, goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill made the save.
Two minutes later, however, Kerala took the lead. The Blasters’ main creative force Adrian Luna played the ball to Nishu Kumar as he ran into space down the left flank. Once he had collected Luna’s pass, Kumar cut inside and superbly curled a shot past Arshdeep Singh from just outside the box – putting his team ahead.
Kerala doubled their lead in the 40th minute. Luna, once again, turned provider as his corner at the near post was flicked goalwards by defender Harmanjot Khabra. Arshdeep managed to get a hand on the ball, but there was too much power in the header to stop it from going in.
After the break, a flurry of chances fell to Odisha forward Jonathas; the forward came closest to pulling a goal back in the 63rd minute when he cheekily tried to lob the ball over Gill, only for the ‘keeper to make a fingertip save.
At the other end, both Jeakson Singh and Alvaro Vazquez tested their luck from distance to no avail. Regardless, Kerala grabbed the three points thanks to those two first-half goals and climbed to the top of the table. Meanwhile, Odisha slipped down to eighth following their third defeat in five games.
