ISL 2019-20: Kerala Blasters Vs ATK live commentary

2-1

6' MCHUGH

  28', 45' OGBECHE

36,298

    Kerala Blasters received an early setback after Carl McHugh gave ATK the lead just six minutes into the game. However, the Manjappada managed to show the fight and get back in the game. Skipper Ogbeche equalised from the penalty spot after Jairo was brought down in the box. The Nigerian striker got his name on the scoresheet again just before the half-time, finding the back of the net with a thumping strike from inside the box. Obviously, the veteran centre-forward was named the Hero of the Match. Sahal Abdul Samad leads the side and the fans for a round of Viking clap. In the end, a winning start for the Blasters, who now have three points to their name. This is Dakir Thanveer signing out from Khel Now. Thanks for joining us, Ladies and Gentlemen. Good Night! Kerala Blasters Vs ATK Ratings: Jeakson Singh shines on league debut Antonio Habas: We had a clear penalty ruled out by the referee Eelco Schattorie: I don’t think ATK was very good in their playing 90+6 BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEP!! It's full-time here at the JLN Stadium Kochi and Kerala Blasters manage to hold on to their one-goal lead, winning the opener of the season 2-1. 90+5 We are in the final minute of the game. The ball is in Kerala's attacking half, Manjappada is buzzing. It looks the home team is taking the three points today! 90+2  Eduardo Garcia play another dangerous ball into the box from the resulting free-kick but Bilal Khan, along with his team-mates, manage to clear the danger. 90+2 Yellow card for Moustapha for a foul near the half-way line. Messi Bouli comes on for Arques in the meantime. Not sure why Schattorie decided to take off the Spaniard, who himself came on as a second-half substitute. 90' Nothing comes off the resulting free-kick. Meanwhile, five minutes added time is announced. 89' Agus Garcia gets a yellow card for a foul on Ogbeche. Messi Bouli gets ready to come on. 88' This game has been about end-to-end football. Now ATK come up with an attack of their own but the final result is same as the rest of the attacks in this half. 86' Quick attack from Blasters now. Arques shoots the ball from the left side of the box but Arindam manages to punch it away. 85' Another ATK attack earn them a corner. Narzary clears it the first time but does not do enough to clear it away. ATK plays another cross into the box but this time the Blasters defenders do enough. 83' ATK receive a freekick. Meanwhile, change for ATK as Halder goes off for Balwant. Eduardo, instead of shooting, plays a dangerous pass into the box but Jairo heads it clear. 81' Now the action is on the other side of the pitch as Soosairaj gets into the box and has a shot. However, he fails to test Bilal Khan. Sahal comes on for Jeakson and the Manjappada is buzzing! 80' Another attack from Kerala Blasters. Ogbeche gets the ball just outside the box and drives the ball towards the goal but is way off target. Meanwhile, Sahal Abdul Samad is getting ready to come on. 78' Kerala receive a corner following a brief attack. Narzary gets on the second ball on the edge of the box but the following shot is disappointing. 76' Jeakson fouls Soosairaj and gives away a free-kick. Eduardo, who just came on, stands over the ball but fails to find the target. 74' Substitution for ATK as Eduardo Garcia comes on for Hernandez. 73' Another set-piece for ATK  but nothing comes off it in the end. Meanwhile, there are Mexican waves going around in the stadium. 72' Another attack sees ATK earn a corner. The resulting set-piece is headed towards goal by an ATK player but is too easy for Bilal, who collects the ball calmly. 69' WOOO! The quick attack from ATK sees Prabir Das play a lovely pass for Krishna, who is through on goal. However, Bilal and Jairo close the striker down swiftly and manage to stop him from having a go on goal. 68' Narzary makes a run along the left-wing from the Kerala half but is stopped by the ATK defenders on the other end, who pass the ball forward for a counter-attack. 66' Fiji international Krishna gets on the end of a cross following an ATK attack but Arques, who just came on, is there to block the shot. 65' ATK makes a change of their own, with Rane going off for Sehnaj Singh. 64' Substitution for Kerala. Mario Arques replaces Cidoncha. 63' Beautiful football from Ogbeche, who plays a pass to Prasanth on the right side of the box. However, the Malayali man is not able to shoot and decides to pass to Rakip instead. The right-back plays a first-time cross and Ogbeche, who started the attack, gets on the end of it but fails to hit the target. 61' Ogbeche is down now and the ATK players are not happy. Replays show a slight nudge on the back from Garcia was what led Ogbeche to go down. 59' Bit of an injury concern for Nazary after he was tackled by Prabis Das. However, he is fine to continue. 56' Hernandez looks to squeeze the ball into the near post but his free-kick shot is wide off-target. ATK are asserting some dominance on the ball now. 55' Soosairaj wins a free-kick for ATK in a good position after Zuiverloon brought him down. 53' After so much end-to-end football, the game has slowed down a bit now. 50' Prabir Das wins a free-kick for ATK on the right-wing. The resulting set-piece is a dangerous one but Jairo heads the ball clear. 48' Half-time team talks from the managers do not seem to have made much of a difference by the looks of it. The game is still end-to-end. The Blasters have a quick attack and it comes to an end after Prasanth's shot goes wide off target. 47' Corner for ATK early on and the Kerala players struggle to get the ball out of harm's way. 46' And the second half is underway! 45+1' One minute of added is announced as Kerala players celebrate the goal. Not much action takes place after referee restarts the game and we go into half-time with Kerala Blasters leading the game 2-1! 45' GOAAAALLLLLL!!! OGBECHE FINDS THE NET FOR BLASTERS AGAIN! Prasanth delivers a low cross into the box following a brief Kerala attack but Cidoncha fails to get on end of it. However, skipper Ogbeche is at the right place, at the right time and puts the ball in the back of the net with a thumping shot! 44' End-to-end football again. Narzary plays a disappointing cross leading ATK to make an attack of their own which results with Krishna getting on the end of a cross but fails to hit the target! 42' Blasters defenders pass the ball among themselves at the back and it frustrates both Eelco Schattorie and the fans. 40' Rakip delivers a cross for Blasters but it goes beyond the box. Narzary is there to get on the ball but his pass is not fruitful as well. 38' Moustapha with a low cross into the box but no one is home. However, the ball goes to Prasanth, who drives a shot but can't find the target. 36' Now it is Blasters who get a free-kick in their attacking half as Halder fouls Moustapha but just like ATK's previous set-piece, the Manjappada also fail to take advantage of it. 34' ATK receive a free-kick in their attacking half but fail to make anything off it. 32' The Blasters are level and look much more lively now! The game is going end-to-end right now and you just can't miss any of it! 30' GOAAAALLLLLL!! Blasters skipper Ogbeche makes no mistake from the spot! Arindam goes the right way but the Nigerian striker's shot is too good to stop! 28' PENALTY KERALA BLASTERS! Blasters receive a corner following a quick attacking move. Halder brings down Jairo in the box as the defender looks to get on the end of the second ball! Can Blasters equalise? 26' Cidoncha gives the ball away in the attacking half and ATK break out a quick counter-attack. Soosairaj dances his way into the Blasters' half but is stopped before he is able to take a shot! 24' OFF SIDE! The Blasters' defence looks shaky so far! And just as we speak, Williams gets on the end of a through pass and scores but the referee calls off-side! Relief for the Manjappada! 20' WOOO! Now the action takes place on the other side of the pitch! Roy Krishna dribbles past the Kerala defenders and has a go on goal but the shot goes just wide off target! 19' CLOSE! Kerala Blasters come forward with a counter-attack and Prasanth drives a shot from the right wing but just misses the target! 18' Kerala's Jairo goes into the referee's book. ATK's resulting free-kick is different and the ball stays in the box for a while but the Blasters defenders manage to get it away. 16' Kerala Blasters are desperate to get back in the game but fail to build up a proper attack. 14' Rane gets a yellow card for time wasting. 12' WOO! Bilal Khan comes off his line to collect the ball as ATK break out with a quick counter-attack but the goalkeeper completely misses it! However, the defenders come to his save. 10' CLOSE! Cidoncha delivers a dangerous ball from the resulting freekick and Jairo heads it but just misses the target! 9' Halder brings down Ogbeche in the Kerala half and now the Blasters have a good chance to equalise. 7' Moustapha goes for a tackle on Rane but this time it goes in ATK's favour. Rane's free-kick goes into the box and the second ball goes to McHugh, who volleys it into the back of the net! 6' GOALLLL!! ATK take the lead! McHugh scores the first goal of the season and gives his side the lead! 4' Moustapha with a well-timed tackle to put the ball away for a throw-in near the half-way line and the Blasters fans love it! 2' Blasters start with a quick attack but Narzary's cross from the left flank is disappointing. 1' AND WE KICKOFF! The brand new edition of the Indian Super League is underway with Kerala Blasters taking the first touch! 7:30PM: The two sides woke out and the Kerala Blasters fans roll out a big tifo that says 'Rise Like A Phoenix'! Certainly they have huge hopes for the season. 7:25PM: The substitutes are making their way to the bench and again fan-favourite Sahal Abdul Samad receives a huge cheer and the young midfielder reacted with applause for the fans in attendance. Oh boy! Somebody just received a bigger cheer than Sahal! Guess who! SANDESH JHINGAN! The big man is in the stadium and the Manjappada gives out a huge roar as he is shown on the big screen! 7:20PM: Two consecutive disappointing seasons saw the attendance at JLN Kochi go down last term, registering an average attendance of just above 17,000 in the 2018/19 campaign. However, as a new-look Blasters kick-off the season, the Yellow Army have turned up in numbers! 7:15PM: The players have gone back into the dressing rooms. It's still raining here in Kochi as we get set for kick-off. 7:10PM: As you can expect each of the Kerala Blasters players received a roar from the Yellow Army but Sahal, who is not starting the game, got the best cheer from the crowd! No surprises there right? 7:05PM: The lineups are being announced in the stadium. Dheeraj Singh, who left Kerala Blasters for ATK ahead of the season, received a fine reception from the Manjappada. 7:00PM: While the likes of Sahal, Samuel, Messi and Arques is present on the Blasters bench, they are short on defenders with Raju Gaikwad, who came in as the replacement for injured Sandesh Jhingan, being the only one on the substitutes list. 6:55PM: ATK have named a strong lineup, with notable A-League signings Roy Krishna and David Williams starting. The two foreigners will be supported by talented Indian player Jayesh Rane. New arrival Michael Soosairaj is also in the first eleven as the Kolkata-based club look to claim the win in the season opener. 6:50PM: The Kerala Blasters squad comes out to warm-up as we speak and they are received with a huge roar from the Manjappada. 6:50PM: The lineups are out and surprisingly Sahal Abdul Samad misses out on the Kerala Blasters first eleven. Local boy Prasanth gets the nod instead. Foreign centre-backs Zuiverloon and Jairo Rodrigues start despite having injury concerns. Halicharan Narzary is starting ahead of the highly-rated Samuel Lalmuanpuia as well. 6:40PM: Here are the starting line-ups for today: Kerala Blasters XI: Bilal(GK), Rakip, Jairo, Zuiverloon, Jessel Carneiro, Moustapha, Jeakson, Prasanth, Narzary, Cidoncha, Ogbeche(C) Subs: Shibinraj, Raju, Arques, Rahul KP, Sahal, Samuel, Messi ATK: Arindam(GK), Kotal(C), Garcia, Prabir Das, Halder, McHugh, Hernandez, Soosairaj, Rane, Williams, Krishna, Subs: Dheeraj, Rathi, Chawan, Thatal, Eduardo Garcia, Balwant, Sehnaj 6:30PM: Hello everyone. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Kochi is all set to host the opener of the sixth edition of the Hero Indian Super League between Kerala Blasters and ATK and it is a prestige for me, Dakir Thanveer, to host the live commentary here on Khel Now. The Line-ups will be out in a few moments and we are all looking forward to it. Would like to point out that it is raining here in Kochi but that has not stopped the Manjappada from flocking into the arena!   Kerala never disappoints!

Kerala Blasters fans Manjappada ahead of ISL 2019-20 opener against ATK at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi

  Welcome to ISL 2019-20 Kerala Blasters Vs ATK live commentary of Khel Now, where we will bring you all the live action from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Kerala Blasters Vs ATK live Kick-Off: 7:30 PM IST. To read the match preview, click here. To read the pre-match press conference of the match, click here and here. Eelco Schattoerie thinks ATK are very powerful “I think ATK has a very strong squad, especially upfront and in midfield. I think they have even Indian players who can score goals and in the end, football is about scoring goals. They have a lot of scoring ability in the team but as I said it’s an opening game. It’s very difficult to get information on the other team in pre-season,” the tactician said. “So I have question marks regarding ATK. In the same time, on paper, the information I get about their recruitment, etc, for sure they have a good time and I think they are one of the best teams in the league. So, we have to be ready. I did my homework as good as I could. Also, today we have last training with some last points to get that are important and then we should be ready,” the Dutchman added. Antonio Habas is not underestimating Kerala Blasters “We have to respect each and every opposition. It is difficult to have an opinion about the teams before the start of the tournament,” Habas opined about the capabilities of other ISL sides.