Kalinga Super Cup: Kerala Blasters, Jamshedpur FC make winning start

ISL clubs Kerala Blasters and Jamshedpur FC started with wins in the Group B of the ongoing Kalinga Super Cup in Bhubaneshwar.

KBFC defeated Shillong Lajong FC comfortably while Jamshedpur FC got better of ISL counterparts NorthEast United in the second match of the day.

Kerala Blasters shrugged off their initial hesitancy to make short work of Shillong Lajong Football Club and won the encounter 3-1 without breaking much of a sweat, even though the I-League title contenders, Shillong Lajong, did display some urgency at the upfront whenever they had a chance to do so.

The first half an hour of the match turned out to be an action-packed one, with three goals coming in this period. After Shillong had a wasted opportunity at the rival goalmouth, Kerala Blasters struck twice before Shillong pulled one back in the 30th minute. The issue was more or less settled in favor of the winners when they slammed in one more immediately after the break.

Kerala Blasters’ opening goal in the 15th minute was a combined move between skipper Dimantakos Dimitros and Kwame Peprah, with the latter finding the target.

The Kerala club doubled the lead in the 27th minute, with Peprah again on target. The bulk of the credit for this goal should go to wingback Prabir Das, whose probing runs from the right flank often created problems for the Shillong defence.

Shillong had a flicker of hope when they reduced the margin two minutes later from a spot kick.

If Shillong Lajong were nursing any hope of making a comeback in the last 45 minutes, then Kerala Blasters poured water on it with a goal within a minute of the resumption with a header from Mohammed Aimen.

In the second match of Group B, Jamshedpur FC erased a first-half goal deficit to make a fine comeback and beat NorthEast United 2-1

Neither NorthEast nor Jamshedpur are currently enjoying a great run midway through the ISL 10. Both have won only two matches each after 12 rounds.

On Wednesday, when the two teams met, the game never rose to any great height, though both made all efforts to break the rival defense. At one point in time, Jamshedpur used six foreigners on the pitch, and it certainly fetched them the desired result.

NorthEast took the lead in the 17th minute as they made the most of a defensive lapse. A faulty clearance by the Jamshedpur defence was grabbed by Nestor Albiach Roger and he took a shot at the goal that deflected off a defender to go in.

Jamshedpur made every effort to draw level and they were certainly unlucky on a couple of occasions for not getting the desired result.

Jamshedpur’s consistent efforts finally paid off in the 68th minute. Ambri, whose presence on the pitch made lots of difference along with fellow Frenchman Jeremy Manzorro, did a brilliant job by providing the cross from the right. Nigerian striker Daniel Chima Chukwu anticipated the pass well and placed himself well to find the target.

Ambri wasn’t finished here as took up the job of getting the match-winner for Jamshedpur in the 88th minute when he picked up the ball off a counter-attack and ran all the way to net the goal.