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| NorthEast United FC vs Kerala Blasters FC |
45th minute goal from Spaniard Koke was enough for NorthEast United FC to mark the day in favor of them.
Kerala Blasters started the match brightly and they kept the superiority throughout the match. But Kerala Blasters could not transform dominance into goals over NorthEast United.
Captain Penn Orji had a great day and he was seen as a source of power for Kerala Blasters with his great touches and creativity in the midfield. Canadian International midfielder Ian Hume was a great player to watch for Blasters and he created a number of goal scoring opportunities for his team at the right wing.
Ian Hume even netted in the 16th minute of the match but was ruled offside. Kerala had major portion of possession and more shots but it was not enough for them to get a goal.
Durga Boro, the local boy, made a fantastic long range effort on the goal but Kerala Blasters FC goal keeper, the experienced David James, rescued it by an absolutely incredible save, which got him 'Swift Moment of the Match' award.
Just after Boro's effort, it was Sergio Pardo, commonly known as Koke, who took advantage of poor clearance by Kerala Blasters defence and left no chance for KBFC goalkeeper David James and that was the lone goal of the match.
Team Kerala introduced Micheal Chopra and Andrew Barisic in place of James Mackallister and Stephen Pearson respectively, while NorthEast united substituted injured Durga Boro by Milan Singh. But it could not prevent the continuous attack by Kerala Blasters towards Northeast United goal.
Team Kerala seemed better team on the ball and have had a number of goals scoring opportunities, especially in the second half after the introduction of Indian origin English player Micheal Chopra. His brilliant effort in the 70th minute, after getting past couple of defenders, was saved by Greece International goalkeeper Alexandrose Tzorvas who also represented his nation during the 2010 World Cup. He was elected as the Hero of the match for his brilliant display in front of the Northeast United net throughout the game.
Korean substitute Do Dong Hyun almost made a 2-0 lead for NorthEast United in the dying minutes of the match after taking advantage of KBFC's defensive error but could not get past David James, who has the record of most number of clean sheets in English Premier League. The Korean was seen as speedy man on the ball and could do wonders for the team in upcoming matches.
Northeast United will face Atletico de Kolkata on 16th at home while Kerala Blasters will face Chennaiyin FC on 21st this month at Chennai, with a hope to coming back to the competition with a win.
Article contributed by: Beyond 90 Minutes
Twitter: @Footyshekkeer
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