ISL
ISL 2022-23: Match Week 1 Highlights
Here's how the matches in the first week of the Indian Super League 2022-23 season went.
Odisha FC vs Jamshedpur FC in ISL 2022-23 (Source: Twitter/ Odisha FC)
Week 1 of the 2022-23 season of the Indian Super League witnessed some exhilarating matches with breathtaking goals and dramatic comebacks. After 2 years of club football in the bubble, the opening week of ISL-9 has produced the right amount of action that the fans were expecting.
MATCH 1: KERALA BLASTERS FC vs EAST BENGAL (3-1)
A yellow sea at the JLN Stadium in Kochi laid eyes on a cracker of an opener when the Blasters coast past a newly put together East Bengal side. After a cagey and rather tedious opening half, Kerala Blasters went all out on the away side creating plenty of chances in the second.
The men in yellow finally got rewarded for their efforts in attack, scoring 3 goals in the final 20 minutes, thanks to an Adrian Luna goal and brace from Ivan Kalyuzhnyi. East Bengal found a goal through Alex Lima from a corner kick, to give any ray of hope for the away fans.
MATCH 2: BENGALURU FC vs NORTHEAST UTD FC (1-0)
Controversial would be the befitting term to elucidate this second match of ISL 2022-23 when BFC faced NEUFC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. A disallowed goal by the Highlanders' Jon Gaztanaga has brought ISL's refereeing inability to the foreground again.
It was Alan Costa's header goal from a corner kick that proved to be the difference at the final whistle, providing valuable three points to the home side.
MATCH 3: HYDERABAD FC vs MUMBAI CITY FC (3-3)
Match 3 turned out to be a goal fest when Hyderabad FC took on the Islanders at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune. Mumbai City opened their account through an own-goal from Chinglensana Singh.
HFC hit back through a penalty which was slotted home by their captain Joao Victor. They found the back of the net early in the second half through Halicharan Narzary. Greg Stewart equaled the score board at the 67th minute for the men in blue.
Another goal from Victor saw the Nizams take the lead for the second time in the match, only to be cancelled out by Mumbai's Noguera nine minutes later.
MATCH 4: ATK MOHUN BAGAN FC vs CHENNAIYIN FC (1-2)
It seemed like the Mariners had attained rhythm in the early minutes of the match against Chennaiyin. Boumous, Kuruniyan, Manvir and Petrados imposed serious threat on the opposition's defence, with one of the chances created resulting in a goal. From there on, it was just sub-standard performance by ATK Mohun Bagan.
The Mariners' defence was caught napping during the second half in plenty of ocassions and this was in turn capitalized by Chennaiyin's super-sub Kwame Karikari. The Ghanaian forward scored one and assisted another handing the Marina Machans a come-back victory at the Salt Lake Stadium.
MATCH 5: JAMSHEDPUR FC vs ODISHA FC (2-3)
Plausibly the most entertaining match in week 1 of ISL would be Match-5 when Jamshedpur FC took on Odisha FC at the furnace. The Shield winners appeared to continue from where they left last season as they found the back of the net twice in the first 10 minutes of the match.
After the 10-minute mark, things slowly started to drift off for the home side. Diego Mauricio replied instantly to the initial onslaught by the Red Miners, by netting a curler from outside the box. Two successive goals at the tail-end by the Juggernauts saw them leaving the JRD Tata Sports Complex with three solid, hard-earned points.
