Ashley Westwood confident and elated after the win against Jamshedpur FC

Blasters registered their first win at Kochi this season

Kerala Blasters FC delivered a confident and composed performance at home, defeating Jamshedpur FC 2-0 to register their first home win of the season.

Ashley Westwood’s side set the tone early, dominating possession and dictating the tempo with a well structured midfield setup. The breakthrough came in the 12th minute when Nihal Sudheesh opened the scoring.

A precise through ball from Kevin Yoke released Benarif on the left, who calmly picked out Nihal inside the box. The youngster showed great composure to slot the ball into the bottom corner and give the Blasters an early lead.

Kerala Blasters doubled their lead in the 36th minute through Vibin, who came in as a substitute of injure Karim. A slick move down the right saw Franchu combine neatly with Nihal before delivering a pinpoint cross into the box. Vibin, left unmarked, made no mistake as he powered a header into the back of the net.

Holding a 2-0 lead at halftime, the Blasters remained disciplined in the second half. Jamshedpur FC tried to mount a response, but the defensive unit, marshalled effectively at the back, stood firm. Goalkeeper Arsh Shaikh was called into action when required and ensured his side maintained a clean sheet with a confident save midway through the half.

The game saw a decisive moment in the 84th minute when Jamshedpur FC were reduced to ten men after Eze was shown a red card for a dangerous challenge, further easing the pressure on the home side. Kerala Blasters continued to control proceedings in the closing stages, limiting Jamshedpur’s attacking opportunities while creating chances on the break. Despite a few late attempts, the visitors were unable to find a way back into the match.

At the final whistle, it was a deserved victory for the Blasters, who showcased control, discipline, and attacking intent throughout the contest.

Following the match, Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ashley Westwood addressed the media. Here is a detailed report of the post-match press conference of the match between Kerala Blasters FC and Jamshedpur FC.

What magic did Ashley do on the Blasters?

Kerala Blasters delivered a performance of intent at Kochi, probably for the first time this season. A team that fetched only a single point in their first six matches later went on to score seven points in four matches under the helm of Ashley Westwood.

When asked what Ashley Westwood did ‘special’ for the Blasters in the training ground, the gaffer replied;

“Just standard football coaching from my idea of playing football. We were solely doing that, improving every day, we were always capable of that, said to the boys that I am completely confident, we were gonna play football, create opportunities, and we can take them. It is down to that. I have done that with Afghanistan, with Hong Kong, with Bengaluru FC; I am doing it now for Kerala. For me, it is standard coaching and setting standards. Just confident in my work, confident in my players and trying to show an attractive brand of football.”

Injury Update of Karim

There was an early setback for the hosts as Karim Benarif was forced off due to injury midway through the first half, with Vibin Mohanan coming on as his replacement. During half-time, Karim was seen struggling to move to the dressing room, which caused some worry to the fans.

When asked about what actually happened to Karim and his status right now, Ashley Westwood answered.

“Yeah, he has got a tweak in his hamstring. We’ll see how he is. We knew it was a risk playing him. But we don’t have time to rest players, really. Now we’ve only got three games. We are gonna play a game quickly in five days, after which we have a rest period, but when you play two games in sixty hours, these things happen. I was always told that you will get ample time to recover, but we didn’t. So it is not a surprise to have injuries. We don’t have the biggest squad in the world. We are trying to look after people, and that’s something we are disappointed with, the scheduling.”

Room for improvement

Offensively and defensively, this was one of the sharpest performances of the Blasters so far this season. However, there is still room for improvement.

Ashley Westwood was asked to point out the key areas of improvement, which he would be working on ahead of the next fixture, to which Ashley Westwood responded;

“There is definitely room for improvement. If we were better, we could have scored four or five. We got great areas, great opportunities, we made a wrong cross final pass, or a wrong selection at the penalty box. But collectively, we defended for our lives, we kept the clean sheet, we could have (scored) more. You might have seen four or five tonight. We are looking at different players. Hormi comes on again, Naocha gets on for his first call from me, which is pleasing. We are trynna look at people and become stronger and stronger. Unfortunately, the game is going to run out for us. But we have three left, and we will try and win them all.”

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.