ISL 2018-19 Full Time: Kerala Blasters FC 1-2 Bengaluru FC

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1-2            30' Stojanovic        17' Chhetri                                               80' Krcmarevic(OG)

 

In the end, Bengaluru FC had the energy and urge to go the extra mile to get the winner. Kerala look dogged-tired after a point of time, as Bengaluru added more bodies to their midfield and finally regained their lead thanks to some luck. Carles Cuadrat will definitely take this victory, which is their third on the road this season. Bengaluru FC go to third place with this win, going past FC Goa in the table. Kerala Blasters, on the other hand, are still 6th in the ISL table and are now six points behind their Southern Rivals. This is Uttiyo Sarkar signing out for Khel Now. Thanks for joining us, Ladies and Gentlemen. Good Night!

90+6 Poplatnik takes a swipe at goal, but his freekick goes miles wide of the margin. That also is the final kick of the game as Bengaluru get another vital win on the road. 

90+5 FREEKICK IN A GREAT POSITION FOR KERALA! Bheke brings down Vineeth in a promising area for the hosts. 

90+3 WASTED CHANCE! Bengaluru had another chance to get another goal, as Delgado passes the ball to Chhetri, who lobs in the ball into the box to Miku. The Spaniard was free and tried to cut back when he should've taken a shot, allowing Kerala to clear. 

90' A chance for Bengaluru to put the game to bed. The ball is played into the box to Miku, whose shot is blocked by Jhingan. Chhetri pounces on the rebound and has his shot saved by Naveen, but the play was called back due to a foul on Jhingan. Five minutes added on. 

88' The Kerala Blasters fans have gone absolutely silent after that goal. They've been disappointed by their team once again. The Blasters pay ers looked tired, but are trying their best to scalvage something from this game. 

86' Bengaluru FC are just strolling around the field with the ball now. The job has almost been done for them. Miku sees some space in the final third and takes a shot at goal, which is cleared away by Jhingan. 

83' Well, that was really cruel on Kerala Blasters. Naveen did really well to save Xisco's initial shot but unluckily, the ball went in through Krcmarevic's deflection. Bengaluru are now making insult to injury, as former Kerala fan-favorite Rino Anto is coming on for Harmanjot Khabra. 

80' GOOALL!!! BENGALURU REGAIN THE LEAD! A beautiful move from the right wing terrorizes the Kerala defense. Xisco makes a sweet pass to Miku, who cuts it back for him in the box. Xisco's shot is initially parried away, but Krcmarevic's deflection takes it into the goal. 2-1!

78' Some heated moments here in the Derby. Moments after his disappointing miss, Vineeth scuffles with Serran on the left. The two go tumbling down before they go head to head after coming up. Both are shown the yellow card for the altercation. 

77' WHAT A MISS! An excellent move from Kearala Blasters as Prasanth plays in a beautiful through ball which cuts open Bengaluru's defense and sends Vineeth through on goal. He's one on one with Gurpreet, but his shot horribly goes wide of the mark.

75' Almost a nightmare for Gurpreet! Kerala move through the right and Vineeth sends in a ball into the middle, which Gurpreet tries to hold onto but scuffles. Thankfully, nobody was there to capitalize on it and the ball was cleared away. 

73' Bengaluru FC make an attacking change. Xisco comes in for Juanan with Rahul Bheke  moving into center-back. The Blues are going in for the win. 

72' Kerala Blasters finally create a promising chance. After playing a few good passes in midfield, the ball is fed to the right to Stojanovic. He sends in a venomous cross which crucially is touched away by Serran before Vineeth could get his header in. 

70' Now Krcmarevic is down for Kerala Blasters after a physical altercation with Rahul Bheke on the right-flank. It seems like he probably took an elbow on the body and is in pain. 

68' Kerala Blasters make another substitution after Doungel pulls up in the field. Halicharan Narzary comes on for him. 

66' CLOSE! After the corner is initally cleared by Kerala, the ball falls to Sunil Chhetri outside the box. The Bengaluru captain takes a powerful swipe at goal and forces another excellent save from Naveen. 

65' Bengaluru have been quite sloppy this half, with some disappointing misplaced passes. However, after gaining the ball from Kerala in the middle, a great ball is played in to Kean Lewis on the right. He's free on his wing, but his cross is sent for a corner. Meanwhile, Samad goes off for Courage Perkuson. 

63' First substitution for Bengaluru FC. Udanta goes off for Kean Lewis. 

61' A dangerous corner is sent away from danger really well by Kerala, before Kali hits the ball against Chhetri and earns a throw-in. Jhingan is down after that altercation. 

59' Kerala look to capitalize on Bengaluru's high-line in defense. A clever ball sets CK Vineeth free on goal, but he's adjourned offside before can get to it. 

56' KUMAR SAVES! A brilliant long-ball from Gurpreet's freekick goes all the way to Miku inside the penalty area. He cuts it back for Udanta in the middle, who takes a shot which is saved well by Kumar. 

55' PENALTY SHOUT! This time its the Kerala Blasters who send in a long ball from the right to the middle. Stojanovic's chipped attempt is blocked away, but the Kerala players were convinced that the ball was illegally handled. Brushed aside by the ref. 

54' The questionable officiating strikes again! A long, through ball sets Miku free on goal, but he is halted by the offside flag. The Bengaluru FC players are livid, convinced that he was onside. David James gives out a wry smile and a shrug. 

52' The game has really slowed down after such a prolonged break. Neither teams seem to have that energy or urgency like they showed in the first half. Meanwhile, Miku takes a fantastic volley from outside the box which is deflected for a corner. 

49' Lalruatthara becomes the first man to go into the books as he's shown a yellow card for a blatant foul on Paartalu. Promising set-piece for the Blues. 

48' Bengaluru FC take a very complicated set-piece from a long way out, flingint the ball into the box. The header is won by Chhetri but there is no follow up to it, allowing Kerala to clear it. 

46' The second-half FINALLY kicks off! Bengaluru are attacking to the left side now as they try to send in a few long balls into Kerala's side to no avail. 

There's been a power-cut at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here in Kochi. There isn' enough light on the pitch to continue to play and we could experience a delay to up to 15 minutes as a result. Frustrating for those fans in the stands. We'll be back once the game begins again in a few minutes. Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen!

Well, the Southern Derby has definitely been a controversial one! After Bengaluru FC started the game in dominant manner, the away side got the lead through a Sunil Chhetri side in which he was clearly offside before finishing. Kerala rallied back after that and received a penalty after Samal Abdul Samad was brought down inside the area. Slavisa Stojanovic made no mistake in blasting the ball into the net to bring his side back into the game. Kerala Blasters fans will definitely feel robbed after going behind, but will be pleased to see how their team responded afterwards. Who will get the spoil of the share after full-time. We'll be back after a while folks! Stay tuned!

45+2 The Blues create another nice chance through the right as Udanta is set free. The winger puts it short for Miku outside the box, but Sandesh Jhingan makes a crucial interception to stop him. Last chance of what was a thrilling half of football. 

45+1 Two minutes of added time is announced! Bengaluru are looking to finish the half strongly. 

44' STRONG HAND FROM GURPREET! A long ball sets Prasanth through on the right side of the penalty area. The winger spots Len to his left and allows him to take a powerful shot, which is palmed away strongly by Gurpreet for a corner. 

42' LEN GOES CLOSE! The young forward moves into the middle and finds some space outside the box. He turns and takes a swipe at goal, which goes over Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's upper crossbar. 

40' Well that was nervy for Kumar! Another powerful, long throw taken by Bheke makes it way to the box. Erik Paartalu rises the highest to win it with his header, which is almost guided into the goal and lands on the top-net. Kumar had his heart in his mouth for a while. 

38' Chance wasted! After the ball ping-ponged in the air for a long time, Samad won it in midfield and played a beautiful through ball to Vineeth. The striker took his time and laid it for Stojanovic, who tried taking a swipe and gave it away. 

35' Good work from Naveen. Miku is again sent through on goal with a lovely ball, but is contained long enough for Naveen Kumar to bravely come up and collect the ball. The keeper caught a nasty boot in the neck and seems to be in pain right now. 

33' LOVELY SKILL FROM MIKU! The Spanish striker makes a terrific turn to beat his man before darting into the box. He decides to take an ambitious attempt from an acute angle which blazes just over the box. What a play by the Bengaluru FC striker. 

32' Ironically, the penalty decision also seems to be a dubious one. It didn't seem like there was enough contact and Samad went down a bit easily. The referees have been extremely questionable today. 

30' GOALLL! STOJANOVIC MAKES NO MISTAKE! He takes his time against Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and luckily his powerful shot hit the crossbar and went inside. Redemption for him after missing a penalty earlier in the tournament. 1-1!

28' PENALTY FOR KERALA! The Blasters make a movement through the right and the ball is won by Samad inside the box, as he's brought in by Nishu Kumar just as he was going to pass it inside. 

26' OOOF! Udanta makes a rare appearance in the center of the pitch and receives the ball with a lot of space around him. The right-winger opens himself up and takes a swipe at goal which goes just wide of the target. 

25' CK Vineeth is played through on goal by Doungel's through ball, but is adjourned offside. He was just as offside as Chhetri was during his goal, but alas, his got caught there! 

23' PRASANTH! The Right-winger receives the ball on the right and has some space after getting into the box, as his thunderous left-foot attempted is saved really well by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. 

21' CLOSE!! Bengaluru's defense switch off during that time, as Prasanth's ambitious ball in from the right beat everyone and made it's way to Doungel, whose shot from a tight angle hit the side-netting. 

19' Well, what do we have here? In the replays, it seems like Chhetri was clear offside when the ball was played onto him. Kerala Blasters players are livid right now. The Bengaluru captain seemed to pick up an injury initially, but seems to be alright now. 

17' GOOALLL! SUNIL CHHETRI DRAWS FIRST BLOOD! The ball is played from the defense to Miku, who flicks it into the Bengaluru FC captain who beat the offside trap and went past Cyril. He sprints into the box before calmly putting it into the net. 1-0!

16' Kerala finally create an attacking chance thanks to CK Vineeth, who wins the ball on the right. He controls it pretty well, but tries to go for an ambitious shot from outside the box that is blocked by Juanan. 

14' Bengaluru have had all the posession for the past ten minutes. They are moving the ball really fluidly through the right side and causing Kerala to go into defensive mode and concede poor set pieces. 

11' WOO! Bheke moves into the middle and receives the ball. He lets it rip from a long way out and his powerful shot just blazes over Kumar's goal. Ambitious!

10' Carles Cuadrat's men are causing problems from the right-side as Rahul Bheke's long-corner is cleared out to a Bengaluru man, who sends in a deep cross to Sunil Chhetri. The Bengaluru captain meets his header, but his attempt is saved comfortably by Kumar. 

8' After a slow start, Bengaluru FC are dominating the game now. They are using their multiple bodies in midfield to keep te game flowing and looking to feed the ball to Udanta, who looks dangerous so far. 

6' CLOSE! Dimas' curling free-kick beat every defender and fell to Erik Paartalu on the far side. The Australian took a weird shot on goal which beat Kumar, but was desperately cleared out by Lalruatthara. 

5' Blasters are going to test Bengaluru's resolve today. Another shot from a long way out from Seminlen Doungel's whose thunderous attempt goes blazing over. The Blues get an early free-kick after Udanta is brought down on the right. 

3' An early chance for the hosts! After an overlapped corner, Kerala made a sweet play down the left and the ball is played in to CK Vineeth at the edge of the box. But the striker's shot is too powerful and goes blazing into the stands. 

1' AND WE KICKOFF! Kerala start the game, attacking from the right to left. The Yellow Army gives out a roar. 

7:25 PM- The teams have made their way into the ground. The national anthem is taking place, after which the toss will happen. The fans are making their voice heard and have created an amazing atmosphere. Stay tuned folks! Kick-off is just minutes away. 

7:20 PM- The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is absolutely buzzing here in Kochi! The Manjapadda have brought their full force to this vital game, while quite a few West Block Blues regulars have also made the trip. Bengaluru FC compellingly won this fixture on New Year's Eve last year. Could their undefeated streak be ended today by a resurgent Kerala Blasters? 

7:15 PM- With Poplatnik being dropped from the line-up, young Seminlen Doungel might be given a chance to spearhead the lineup. David James could also go with former Bengaluru FC striker CK Vineeth operating as the lone striker to try and hurt the opponents. The Blues are yet to be defeated and will look to capitalize on Kerala's defensive frailties to go home with another win tonight. 

7:10 PM- Kerala Blasters have made two changes to their lineup following the controversial draw against FC Pune City on Friday. Prasanth has replaced Poplatnik, while Lalruatthara has come in for Rakip. Bengaluru FC have gone with an unchanged lineup from their win against ATK last Wednesday. 

7:05 PM- Here are today's starting lineups.

Kerala Blasters XI: Naveen, Cyril, Jhingan(C), Lakic-Pesic, Lalruatthara, Krcmarevic, Samad, Prasanth K, Vineeth, Stojanovic, Doungel.

Subs: Dheeraj, Anas, Kizito, Mundampara, Perkuson, Narzary, Poplatnik.

Bengaluru FC XI: Gurpreet, Bheke, Serran, Juanan, Nishu, Khabra, Paartalu, Udanta, Delgado, Chhetri(C), Miku. 

Subs: Poirei, Anto, Haokip, Gursimrat, Xisco, Lewis, Chencho. 

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

7:00 PM- Hello everyone. It is a wonderful evening here in Kochi and it is a delight to host the southern derby between Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Both sets of players are already in the venue and are just waiting to get on the pitch to kick off their respective campaigns on a high note. The weather here is just perfect for a high voltage football game between the two Indian Super League behemoths. Stay tuned and enjoy the commentary with Khel Now Football!

Match Preview- Kerala Blasters are unbeaten so its going to be difficult against them– Carles Cuadrat