Kochi: Kerala Blasters FC and Mumbai City FC played out an exciting 0-0 draw in an Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Wednesday. This was the second consecutive goalless draw for both the teams.
Kerala Blasters wasted a number of chances and their inability to convert golden opportunities kept them sixth on the points table. Meanwhile, Mumbai City will also stay fourth on the points table.
The match started on a good tempo as the visitors were the first one to attack in the fourth minute but Nicolas Anelka's through ball was a bit delayed and the Indian forward Subhash was rightly adjudged offside by the referee.
Kerala Blasters then soon find their footing in to the match and threatened at Mumbai's goal consistently in the next few minutes. Pearson first found skipper Penn Orji with a quick freekick, who crossed it inside the box for Jhingan but the defender's header was wide off the target. Then came the "save of the first half" by none other than India and Mumbai's No.1 goalie - Subrata Paul. He made a point blank save off Kerala's Milagres header. The follow up shot was also deflected over.
As the half passed by both the teams settled into the match but started losing the ball fairly easy in the middle and both set of players setted deep in their respective halves to deny each other the attacking influence. Right when it was looking that the tempo of the match has gone down, Orji put in a sublime pass over the Mumbai's defense line for Milagres but it was a touch high for Milagres to head it in. With this attack, the crowd too regained their energy.
Kerala defenders also did well to keep Anelka quiet in the first half although the start striker mostly played the first half as No.10 rather than No.9. In the last ten minutes of the first half, the hosts dominated the proceedings but were unable to break the deadlock as both the teams went in the break at 0-0.
Second half started in the same manner with Kerala Blasters dominating the proceedings but their poor finishing was once again the main reason they were not leading at the first-hour mark.
The first attack of the second half came from the hosts as a cross inside the Mumbai's penalty area once again caused panic in the visitors' defence but after a couple of headers in the penalty areaa, the ball fell to Orji who blazed it over the bar.
After being frustrated for most of the match, Mumbai coach made the first change in the 57th minute by bringing in Sushil Singh at the expense of Lalrindika Ralte. With that change Mumbai shifted to 4-3-3 but Kerala were very much in control of the things and continued their domination.
In pursuit of that all important goal, Kerala brought in star striker Iain Hume at the expense of skipper Oriji and he almost made an instant impact thanks to a brilliant through ball to Sabeeth, whose cross from the left was missed by both Subrata Pal (Mumbai goalie) and Blasters' striker Milagres.
Then came the golden and the best chance of the match for Mumbai City against the run of play when Stohanzl cross from the right found Anelka but his header went inches wide and the game remained goalless after 70 minutes.
Soon the visitors had another couple of chances but they were denied by the goal post and David James. In the 77th minute, Tiago's volley struck the post and was cleared behind for a corner and the resulting corner was well kept by away James.
In the last ten minutes both the teams pushed forward for the winner but the quality of defending and some poor striking from both set of strikers meant the match ended in a goalless draw.
Sachin Tendulkar pays tribute to Indian defence forces
Indian cricket legend and co-owner of the Kerala Blasters FC, Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday paid rich tributes to the country's defence forces.
Just before the start of the match, Tendulkar paid tributes to the men in uniform.
As the stadium roared and clapped, Tendulkar, who is brand ambassador of Indian Air Force, honoured two CISF personnel and said while we celebrate various festivals, these men are constantly working to make us secure.
"I want to acknowledge and recognise these heroes. We have two heroes from CISF," he said.
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