Ratings: Diamantakos shines as Kerala Blasters edge past Jamshedpur FC

This was the Men of Steel's fifth defeat in a row.

Kerala Blasters defeated Jamshedpur FC 1-0, courtesy a 17th minute strike by Dimitrios Diamantakos at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Sunday. Ivan Vukomanovic’s men have thus recorded their fourth victory on a trot as they are now placed in the fifth spot of the standings with 15 points from eight matches.

On the other hand, Jamshedpur’s misery has only compounded with this loss as they are positioned 10th in the table with only a single victory and draw from their eight encounters so far.

Here are the player ratings for both the teams from this match.  

Jamshedpur FC (By Tarkesh Jha)

TP Rehenesh – 5

Kerala Blasters barely tested Rehenesh barring the goal that they scored. Six of the eight shots taken by the visitors were off target and the custodian couldn’t do anything significant from stopping the first goal from going inside the back of the net.

Laldinliana Renthlei – 5.5

Renthlei made one tackle, two interceptions and three clearances along with a solitary cross but couldn’t contribute productively upfront to help Jamshedpur FC claw back into the proceedings.

Eli Sabia – 5.5

Sabia played it neat at the back to record four tackles and two interceptions with a 90 per cent passing accuracy.

Peter Hartley – 6

Hartley’s passing was erratic with an accuracy of only 62 per cent but he was engaged proactively on the defensive front with six tackles, four clearances and an interception to his name.

Ricky Lallawmawma – 5.5

Ricky intercepted twice and tackled thrice but he could have arguably been more creative going ahead as Jamshedpur frenetically looked to close the gap between them and Kerala in the second half.  

Phijam Vikash Singh – 5

Phijam worked hard to recover the ball at the centre of the park. He tackled six times in 56 minutes but was hauled off as the coach looked to shake things up in the quest of an equalizer.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – 5.5

JET created four goal-scoring chances and took a shot off target but unfortunately, he was often involved in the deep end of the field, recovering possession back as Jamshedpur went about searching for their elusive first goal of the night.

Boris Singh – 5.5

Boris put in two crosses along with a great defensive shift, registering eight tackles, but couldn’t create anything of substance upfront to at least salvage a point from this encounter.

Farukh Choudhury – 5

Farukh couldn’t deliver the goods when the team required his services the most. He had little to show for in this game, with just an off-target shot and a solitary tackle to his name.

Ritwik Das – 6

Ritwik shot at target once, crossed the ball in twice and also tackled and intercepted four and two times respectively, to round up a decent performance on an otherwise disappointing night for Jamshedpur.

Daniel Chima Chukwu – 5.5

Chukwu took two shots off target and created a couple of goal-scoring chances too, but was starved of quality service from the midfield throughout the course of this defeat.

Substitutes

Jitendra Singh – 5

Jitendra took a shot off target but he was often pegged back and rather compelled to make three tackles in this insipid collective performance put forth by Jamshedpur.

Ishan Pandita – 5.5

The forward often found himself in promising positions upfront and managed to take three shots in the 34 minutes he spent on the field. Pandita could have helped turn the game in Jamshedpur’s favour if he would have spent more time on the field.

Pratik Chaudhari - N/A

Seiminlen Doungel - N/A

Harry Sawyer - N/A

Kerala Blasters (By Sooraj Saji)

Prabhsukhan Gill - 8

The youngster was in top form today. His brilliant performance under the bars earned him a clean sheet as well as three points for his team. He was fundamental in blocking several dangerous looking counter-attacks from Jamshedpur's end. He handled well the role of a sweeper keeper for the team.

Sandeep Singh - 7

Sandeep performed well in the wing-back role. His inch-perfect tackle against Ishan Pandita outside the box prevented a bad outcome for the team. However, the full-back was booked for the same. 

Marko Lešković - 8.5

A class display by the Croatian tonight as he successfully kept Chima inside his pockets for the whole 90 minutes. Leskovic made some very crucial tackles in the game. He was awarded the "Man of the match" award for his heroics today.

Hormipam Ruivah - 7.5

Hormipam displayed a good performance today. He defended and partnered well with Leskovic throughout the game. He slightly lost the rhythm while maintaining a high line of defence in the second half. 

Nishu Kumar - 6

Nishu Kumar was one of the weak links in the team today. He left gaps while overlapping, which Jamshedpur FC utilized well for their counter-attacks. The player was substituted in the second half.

Rahul KP - 6.5

He Performed well in the Right-wing for Kerala Blasters. Rahul made some worthy contributions to the defence. He would have affected the scoreline if he could have converted the 'open-net' chance received from Sandeep Singh in the 65th minute.

Ivan Kaliuzhnyi - 7.5

The midfielder had a major influence in controlling the heart of the midfield. Ivan performed well both offensively and defensively.

Jeakson Singh - 6.5

Jeakson displayed a neat performance in the midfield today. He operated as an anchor man in the midfield and maintained a good sync with Ivan Kaliuzhnyi.

Sahal Abdul Samad - 6.5

Sahal had many chances but luck wasn't on his side. He was tightly marked by the opposition defenders. Sahal needs to sharpen his acumen and shooting skills.

Adrian Luna - 8

The Kerala Blasters captain displayed a calm and cool performance throughout the game. Luna controlled the game pretty well. His set-piece (free-kick) turned into a beautiful assist for Dimitrios Diamantakos.

Dimitrios Diamantakos - 8.5

A dazzling night for the Greek forward as his positioning sense and composed finish led to a neat goal in the first half. Diamantakos impacted the game throughout until he got substituted in the 75th minute.

Substitutes

Apostolos Giannou - 6

He made an average performance as a substitute. Giannou came in as a substitute for Diamantakos for the last 20 minutes.

Jessel Carneiro - 6.5

Jessel came in as a substitute for Nishu Kumar. He successfully maintained a clean sheet for the team.

Saurav Mandal - 6

Mandal came in as a substitute for Sahal in the second. During his stay, he couldn't create any eye-worthy moves.

 Victor Mongil - N/A