ISL | Kerala Blasters in final; The Yellow Jackets in Vasco da Gama

The Yellows beat Jamshedpur FC in the ISL final at the Vasco Tilak Maidan Stadium in Madgaon. The Blasters were saved by Adrian Luna’s goal in the first quarter as both teams drew 1-1 in the second – quarter semi – final. The Kerala Blasters won 2-1 in both the quarters.

The Blasters reach the final for the first time since 2016. Pranoy Holder scored the goal for Jamshedpur. This is the Blasters’ third final in the ISL. The team had previously qualified for the finals in 2014 and 2016.

The first half of Kerala Blasters got off to an exciting start. Alvaro Vazquez had a golden opportunity in the first minute of the match. Vazquez was the only goalkeeper in front of him when the ball was received. Vasquez chipped the ball over goalkeeper Rahnesh, who left the goal line, but the ball bounced off the post.

Later, Kerala continued to attack. Diaz hit back at an effort post. The player shook the net in the follow-up but the referee ruled offside. This was followed by Luna’s magical moment in the 18th minute. After receiving a pass from Vasco da Gama, Luna single-handedly dribbled past the Jamshedpur defense and into the net with an eye-catching strike. With this, Kerala Blasters took a 2-0 lead in the aggregate.

In the 37th minute, Chima shocked Kerala and scored for Jamshedpur. The goal was allowed at first but the referees discussed and ruled that the goal was offside.

Jamshedpur came within five minutes of the start of the second half. The Blasters got the ball into the net after a scuffle from Greg Stewart’s corner kick. Holder was on target and could easily subdue the goalkeeper. The Blasters intensified their attack shortly after the goal.

The Blasters played without Sahal Abdul Samad, the Malayalee who scored the winning goal in the first quarter. The Malayalee player was injured during training. When Sanjeev Stalin was dropped along with Sahal, Sandeep and Nishukumar joined the team.

Read the most reliable news, live information, world, national, Bollywood, sports, business, health and lifestyle news on News18 Malayalam website.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.