Kerala Blasters Vs Mumbai City Ratings: Amrinder, Souvik best of the lot

The game also marked the Islanders' first ever win in Kochi against the southerners.

The Kerala Blasters Vs Mumbai City game on Thursday night was memorable for many reason. The Islanders won their first ever game in Kochi backed with an overall good performance in a match that was closely contested between both the sides.

However, as it looked like the encounter would approach a goalless end, a goal by Amine Chermiti in the 82nd minute ensured that Jorge Costa’s side started off their tournament on a positive note as such. Sahal Abdul Samad curiously started the game from the bench but his introduction in the final few minutes were a clear remainder to why he should be utilized in a much bigger and consistent role by the Kerala Blasters.

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Here, we rate all the players who took part in this match.

Kerala Blasters

Bilal Khan (GK)- 5.0

The custodian was largely untroubled with some regulation saves as such throughout the course of the game. However, he made a fumble at the half-hour mark where he felled Mohamed Larbi inside the box in a move that could have resulted in a foul as well.

Again, in the 83rd minute he nearly gave away a goal to Mumbai City FC as Bilal left the box to clear the ball but Serge Kevyn failed to capitalize on the opportunity and passed the ball in no man’s land.

Mohammad Rakip- 5.0

Rakip performed his defensive duties quite well and hardly wandered ahead in search of providing any width on the attacking side. Larbi did present some trouble to him and managed to get past him on some occasions but overall the fullback had a pretty tidy game eventually.

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Watch: Kerala Blasters Vs Mumbai City highlights

Jessel Carneiro- 5.0

Like Rakip, there was little notable offensive contribution from Carneiro’s side as he usually refrained from moving ahead with the ball and rather preferred to play passes to the midfield and focus more on the defensive aspect of the game.

Jeakson Singh- 5.0

Jeakson was critical at the centre, but he could have been a tad bit more incisive with his passes whenever he got hold of the ball. He tended to lose the possession with some unnecessarily misplaced passes on some occasions and that could be toned down a bit if Kerala are to be more consistent in their buildup play as such.

Prasanth Karuthadathkuni- 6.5

Karuthadathkuni switched flanks quite intelligently midway through the game and kept Mumbai City FC’s fullbacks on their toes with some quick trickery and footwork with the ball. He cut in to play some diagonal through balls at times and interlinked well with the other forwards in the final third too.

Halicharan Narzary- 5.5

Narzary used his pace to good effect but none of his crosses or deliveries into the box from the wider areas was concise enough to cause trouble to Mumbai’s backline. He tried to stretch them to the byline but the final product was missing to quite an extent.

Substitutes

Rahul Kannoly Praveen- 5.5

Praveen definitely added some new energy to the left flank and even looked to create something productive but maybe, a few more minutes could help him carve a better impact.

Sahal Abdul Samad- 5.5

Sahal came on the pitch and instantly put up his mark with some intelligent movements inside the box and the sheer eagerness to create an opportunity with his gameplay. His ability to create that potentially goal-scoring assist for Ogbeche in the fag end of the game is sheer evidence to the lad’s peerless talent and quality.

Mumbai City FC

Amrinder Singh (GK)- 8.0

Amrinder was fantastic whenever called upon in the game, especially his two efforts the first of them coming through a corner kick. However, his reflex save to deny Ogbeche a goal in the injury time deserves some special applause as his vision was probably blocked by Pratik Chaudhari in front of him.

Souvik Chakrabarti- 8.0

Souvik was arguably the star of the game for Mumbai as his tenacity was simply incredible, coupled with his zealous work-rate to contribute in the final third. He was rewarded for that through his assist, the low cross through which Mumbai eventually won the game.

Sarthak Golui- 5.0

It can be said that Golui gradually grew assured in the game but his passes and particularly the weight behind them were quite not up to the mark in the first essay of the game.

Subhashish Bose- 6.0

Bose was arguably less industrious as compared to Chakrabarti but he left no stone unturned in the defensive half and ensured that nothing notable took place for Kerala’s perspective from his flank.

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Rowllin Borges- 7.0

Borges was very busy at the centre, as he regularly looked to press and recover the ball from Blasters’ midfielders and was quick to release the ball ahead whenever the opportunity arose.

Raynier Fernandes- 7.0

Fernandes formed a cohesive partnership with Borges as he closed down the spaces in the defensive half and combined well with fellow midfielders to stitch together passes before looking to release the wingers on the run in the wider areas of the pitch.

Substitutes

Pratik Chaudhari- 7.0

Pratik naturally fitted in the slot left by Grgic and he completed the task put in front of him quite seamlessly. He was alert inside the box and didn’t deter from covering up for Souvik whenever the fullback raced ahead into the opposition’s half to add more attacking impetus to the game.