ISL 2022-23: Kerala Blasters stretch unbeaten run to 6 games, after 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin FC
Sahal Abdul Samad had put the Kerala Blasters in front in the first half before Chennaiyin FC's Vincy Barreto returned to score against his former club with an equaliser in the second.
FollowAt the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Monday, a hard-fought 1-1 draw between Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters FC signalled the end of the latter's five-match winning streak in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23. Vincy Barreto scored against his former team in the second half to tie the score after Sahal Abdul Samad had given the Blasters the lead in the first.
Abdenasser El Khayati was benched in favour of Sourav Das last week despite having a hand in five of the seven goals against NorthEast United FC. Vafa Hakhamaneshi stepped up to fill the vacant foreigner place after Gurmukh Singh sat down on the bench. The other two alterations involved the replacement of Mohammad Rafique and Rahim Ali with Ajith Kumar and Barretto.
Adrian Luna attempted to lift a free kick over the goalkeeper from the left flank inside the first minute, but Debjit Majumder palmed it over the crossbar. Luna repeated the long-range free kick attempt he made in the opening minute. This time, a dipping and curving attempt from the centre of the field was straight at the goalkeeper before it was again palmed over the bar in the 21st minute.
Kaliuzhnyi saw Samad's run in the middle of the first half and sent a beautiful through ball into his path. Samad, 25, deftly dinked it over the charging goalkeeper to score his third goal of the year as Majumder came off his line to try to shut the angle for him.
Vanspaul sent a good cross into the box from the left side in the 27th minute, and Duker was about to score when Nishu Kumar made a critical intercepting header to send the ball out for a corner.
A pin-point ball from Vanspaul found Ali in the box three minutes into the second half as the replacement player from halftime. Prabhsukhan Gill parried the striker's first-time volley directly into Baretto's path. The midfielder scored against his previous team from close range.
El Khayati, a replacement, shook off his defender in midfield and passed the ball to Sliskovic down the right wing in the 81st minute. Sliskovic botched his cross as Anirudh Thapa sprinted into the penalty area, and the ball sailed out for a goal kick. That indicated that neither team would make any significant offensive plays in the game's closing moments.
The one point moves Kerala Blasters up to fourth, one point behind ATK Mohun Bagan and ahead of Odisha FC on goal differential. On December 26, Monday, the Blasters will welcome Odisha FC to their home field. While still in seventh place, Chennaiyin FC is now four points out of the final playoff slot. On December 24, Saturday, the Marina Machans will travel to the west coast to take on Mumbai City FC.
Key Stats:
- Marko Leskovic made 5/5 successful interceptions
- Fallou Diagne had 78 touches and a passing accuracy of 91%
- Nishu Kumar made 5 interceptions, 3 clearances and 2 blocks
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