Centre-back Enes Sipovic nodded in a 49th-minute corner to give Kerala Blasters the lead against a struggling East Bengal – which they held onto until the very end. The win boosts the Blasters’ hopes of making it through to the finals.
Despite being ahead of East Bengal in the table, Kerala suffered during the early exchanges. The Red and Gold Brigade attacked with intent early on but was let down by a lack of ruthlessness in the final third. Kerala grew into the game and, in the 17th minute, the in-form Alvaro Vazquez had a tame, headed attempt at goal – easily collected by the goalkeeper.
Sanjeev Stalin and Sahal Abdul Samad tried their luck at the goal subsequently – either side of an unsuccessful Lalrinliana Hnamte attempt at the other end – but the ball failed to the target on both occasions.
Three minutes before half-time, Antonio Perosevic flashed a ball across the six-yard box, waiting for a tap in from somebody. Rahul Kumar Paswan, closest to the ball, failed to get any sort of connection – and a great opportunity went begging for East Bengal.
Four minutes after the restart, however, the breakthrough arrived. Vazquez won a corner with a long-range attempt which was subsequently headed in by Sipovic for the first and only goal of the game.
Things could’ve turned out differently for Mario Rivera’s team had forward Fran Sota taken his chance late on. The Spaniard collected the ball just inside the penalty box after it broke kindly to him from a deflected Perosevic shot, but he smashed it wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.
The failure to take their chances led to a ninth loss of the season for East Bengal, who are out of top-four contention, and, instead, find themselves in the race not to finish bottom of the table against NorthEast United.
KBFC now have 26 points, their highest-ever points tally in the Indian Super League. Level on points with second-placed ATK Mohun Bagan after 15 games played, they face the Mariners next. Subsequently, they will take on Hyderabad FC, Chennaiyin FC, Mumbai City FC, and FC Goa – in the final four games of the regular season.
Kerala Blasters’ next 5 Indian Super League opponents
| Team | Date |
| ATK Mohun Bagan (home) | February 19 |
| Hyderabad (away) | February 23 |
| Chennaiyin (home) | February 26 |
| Mumbai City (home) | March 2 |
| FC Goa (away) | March 6 |
