Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters, two local rivals played out an intense thriller at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi which saw the home team Kerala win 3-2. The game was in the hosts' favour for the first ten minutes, but they missed every single of their opportunities to score. Bengaluru FC was given a penalty in the 12th minute for a foul by Prabhsukhan Gill on Sunil Chhetri. Chhetri, who was yet to register a goal this season, did so after a collected finish from the penalty spot. Kerala Blasters appeared to have lost all motivation, but they immediately got back into the game. Sandesh Jhingan was penalised for a foul and Kerala Blasters was given a free kick as a result. Adrian Luna took the free kick but Gurpreet Sandhu was equal to the strike. However, Marco Leskovic headed it in to tie the game. The hosts regained the control of the game after the equalizer as they dominated the charts of possession. In the 43rd minute Adrian Luna got the ball and made a run through the left, beating Sandesh Jhingan and Prabir Das thereby setting up a brilliant grounder to Dimitrios Diamantakos, who slotted it in to give Kerala Blasters the lead.The second half resumed with Bengaluru FC high on spirits, but Kerala Blasters quickly regained their momentum. Apostolos Giannou who came on as a substitute for Ivan Kaliuzhnyi in the 68th minute shook the net for Blasters in just two minutes. Diamantakos won the ball and set it up nicely for Apostolos Giannou at the 70th minute who finished it to solidify the lead. It almost looked like the game was sealed but Javi Hernandez had other plans. Gill cleared a shot and Javi collected the rebound as he slammed it into the net to give Bengaluru FC a consolation goal. The away side fought hard to find an equalizer but the bragging rights of the southern derby went to Kerala Blasters.With the fifth win in a row, Ivan Vukomanovic's boys have moved up to the fourth position on the table.Read about the key moments down below:
Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters, two local rivals played out an intense thriller at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi which saw the home team Kerala win 3-2. The game was in the hosts' favour for the first ten minutes, but they missed every single of their opportunities to score. Bengaluru FC was given a penalty in the 12th minute for a foul by Prabhsukhan Gill on Sunil Chhetri. Chhetri, who was yet to register a goal this season, did so after a collected finish from the penalty spot. Kerala Blasters appeared to have lost all motivation, but they immediately got back into the game. Sandesh Jhingan was penalised for a foul and Kerala Blasters was given a free kick as a result. Adrian Luna took the free kick but Gurpreet Sandhu was equal to the strike. However, Marco Leskovic headed it in to tie the game. The hosts regained the control of the game after the equalizer as they dominated the charts of possession. In the 43rd minute Adrian Luna got the ball and made a run through the left, beating Sandesh Jhingan and Prabir Das thereby setting up a brilliant grounder to Dimitrios Diamantakos, who slotted it in to give Kerala Blasters the lead.The second half resumed with Bengaluru FC high on spirits, but Kerala Blasters quickly regained their momentum. Apostolos Giannou who came on as a substitute for Ivan Kaliuzhnyi in the 68th minute shook the net for Blasters in just two minutes. Diamantakos won the ball and set it up nicely for Apostolos Giannou at the 70th minute who finished it to solidify the lead. It almost looked like the game was sealed but Javi Hernandez had other plans. Gill cleared a shot and Javi collected the rebound as he slammed it into the net to give Bengaluru FC a consolation goal. The away side fought hard to find an equalizer but the bragging rights of the southern derby went to Kerala Blasters.With the fifth win in a row, Ivan Vukomanovic's boys have moved up to the fourth position on the table.Read about the key moments down below: