All eyes were on Anwar Ali, making his debut for the Red-and-Gold, amidst the transfer controversies and Dimitrios Diamantakos, East Bengal’s No. 9, returning to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, for an away side. The first half presented a frustrating display of football. No one could break the deadlock.
Carles Cuadrat changed his defence from the previous match, Anwar pairing up with Hector Yuste. Mohamad Rakib and Mark Zothanpuia were the side-backs. Mikael Stahre, the Blasters coach, brought in Danish Farooq as attacking midfielder to supply balls to Noah Wali Sadaoui and Jesus Nunez Jimenez in the front — who wasn’t a part of the squad against Punjab FC, when they lost 2-1 in the same stadium.
East Bengal’s No. 4, Anwar, was under a lot of pressure, evident from his display, due perhaps to the transfer fee and speculation regarding his transfer status. On Thursday, in a practice session at Salt Lake stadium, it was apparent that he would make his East Bengal debut in Kochi because he was seen pairing up with Yuste in defence. He seemed off-colour.
Kerala’s second goal came in the 88th minute from Kwame Peprah, who came in as a substitute in the second half. Anwar made a blunder — a crucial miss-pass to Rahul KP, who opened the play for Peprah to hit the winner — leaving the man in the news helpless.
After an underwhelming first half, the second saw some intent on the pitch. P. Vishnu, who had an incredible Calcutta Football League with the second team, was brought in place of Naorem Mahesh. Nandhakumar Sekhar, another East Bengal midfielder who didn’t have a good first half, snatched the ball near 30 yards and played a clinical through to Diamantakos. The Greek forward made a cross along the ground to Vishnu, and the local boy didn’t err in breaking the deadlock. This was in the 59th minute.
The lead was short-lived. The forward from USA, Noah Sadaoui, made a solo run down the left and opened up the goal past Rakib with a swift outside-inside dodge. He put it past the goalkeeper between his legs. Prabhsukhan Gill, under the East Bengal bar, seemed unconfident throughout the game.
As the game approached regulation time, it seemed headed for a draw. The result would have been fair for both sides. Neither deserved a win for the brand of football they played. Peprah’s strike sealed it for the Blasters and the stadium erupted in joy.
For East Bengal, it was evident that they lacked coordination. The players didn’t know where their colleagues were on the pitch and multiple missed passes didn’t allow proper game-play except for a few occasions.
Cuadrat and his boys will have to travel back to Kolkata empty-handed, before they start preparations for their first home match on September 27, against FC Goa. Kerala Blasters — the Manjappadas — will be happy to have snatched full points from this encounter. They face NorthEast United on the September 29, in an away fixture. They, too, will have to do better.