Kerala Blasters vs FC Goa: 5 talking points from the ISL match

Kerala Blasters took on the FC Goa side in this year's first Indian Super League match. The deadlock was broken pretty fast by the Blasters from a corner kick and they took total control over FC Goa by the half hour mark thanks to a probable goal of the season from Luna.

However, FC Goa fought back swiftly after going 2-0 down and thanks to their foreign attacking duo, The Gaurs were levelled by the half time. The second half was mostly in favour of FC Goa with some occasional counterattacks from Kerala Blasters but the scoreline remain unchanged.

Here are the talking points for the match.

Adrian Luna, Mr. Dependable for Vukomanovic

Kerala Blasters had a slow start this season and gradually worked their way up the table. But Adrian Luna has been one constant light for the KBFC side even in their dimmer days. Since their opening match against ATKMB, Luna's performance rarely dipped. Even today, he proved why he leads the Kerala Blasters attack on the pitch. Luna will be influential in the reminder of Kerala Blaster's ISL campaign this season.

A competition of belter goals

The new year starts with some stellar goals in the Indian Super League. First Adrian Luna's cracker of a goal that defied the laws of physics and probably became the strongest contender of this year's goal of the season so far. The second was from Edu Bedia who didn't bother to cross the ball from the corner kick and decided to score straight from the corner to mark his first goal in this year's ISL.

Ortiz's goal from the edge of the box was overshadowed by the brilliance of the former two. However, even his goal was also one of the bests of this season.

FC Goa's pressing in the second half

In the first half, Goa couldn't play their brand of football due to the relentless pressing from KBFC at the starting minutes. The Goan defence disappointed again which has become a recurring theme this season. Their Centre back duo looked shaky and left spaces to be exploited by the likes of Sahal.

In the second half, however, FC Goa took control of the possession and made it very hard for the likes of Khabra to defend for the entirety of the second half. Edu Bedia and Ortiz duo wreaked havoc on the KBFC defence but sadly couldn't conjure a goal to show for their brilliance.

Pereira's search for a win continues

Pereira played his third game as the coach of the FC Goa side but his search for a win continues. The former Churchill Brothers coach has enough experience to turn this season around for the Gaur but he just hasn't been lucky enough. His team has had enough sparks to win all the games they have played under Pereira but in the end, the scoreline didn't work out in their favour. If Goa can get past this hurdle of three points, things might start to look up for them.

Attack shines

The first match of the year was an attacking display, to say the least. Since the whistle was blown today evening, the defenders have been frantically trying to keep the ball out of their penalty zone. The close to thirty shots on goal from the two sides show how busy the two young Indian Keepers Gill and Dheeraj have been during the ninety minutes. The starting match of the year sets the bar high for the remainder of the campaign.