ISL 5: Kerala Blasters flatter to deceive; draw 2-2 with Bengaluru FC

It was a tale of two halves. For once, it looked like the Kerala Blasters would give their loyal fans something to cheer about in this season of the Indian Super League. Languishing at ninth position of the 10-team table, the Kerala outfit blew away a two-goal advantage to play out a 2-2 draw against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

First-half goals from Slavisa Stojanovic (16' penalty) and Courage Pekuson (40') had given the Kerala Blasters a glimmer of hope going into the break. But the table-toppers came back brilliantly in the second half to equalise through Udanta Singh (69') and captain Sunil Chhetri (85').

The Kerala team looked a completely changed side today during the first 45 minutes. In his second game in charge, coach Nelo Vingada rung in the changes handing Mohammed Rakip, Pritam Singh, Kizito Keziron and Pekuson starts in place of Cyril Kali, Nikola Krcmarevic, Prashanth K. and Lalaruatthara (who had picked up a red card in the last match against Delhi Dynamos).

With Keziron, Pekuson and Abdul Sahal Samad marshalling the midfield, the Kerala Blasters started off on a promising note, building up play using short passes. Seiminlen Doungel was a constant threat on the right flank, with Stojanovic volleying just wide off the former's cross as early as in the third minute.

The constant pressure from the Kerala Blasters soon bore fruit as a rattled Bengaluru defence conceded a penalty—the ball hitting Kean Lewis's hand even as he made a mess of a clearance. Stojanovic stepped up to take the kick and coolly sent Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu the wrong way to give the Blasters an unexpected lead.

They soldiered on and, deservingly, doubled the lead five minutes before the break, when Pekuson scored with a brilliant first-time shot off a Doungel pass.

In the second half, Bengaluru FC made two changes—Rahul Bheke and Xisco Hernandez replacing Kean Lewis and Edmund Lalrindika respectively. They started attacking right from the word go, and continued to pile on the pressure as the Blasters withdrew into their half and started defending deep. Chhetri was guilty of missing two headers off good crosses from Singh and Bheke.

Soon, the Kerala Blasters defence cracked under the sustained pressure. Erik Paartalu sent in a long ball into the box, where Chhetri headed it into the centre. The Kerala Blasters defenders were slow to react and an onrushing Singh headed the ball past Dheeraj Singh.

What followed was a repeat of everything that the Kerala Blasters had done wrong this season. Their players dropped back, defending in numbers. There were hardly any attacks, and there was no effort to retain possession or build up play. Balls were cleared away aimlessly. And to add to the panic, Keziron and Pekuson—the midfield generals—were substituted to shore up the defence.

In the 80^th minute, however, the Blasters had a golden chance to score their third goal, but Stojanovic's shot hit the top post.

With Bengaluru going all out for the equaliser, the game started getting physical. Doungel was involved in a tiff with Dimas Delgado and had to pulled away, even as he picked up a yellow card.

The inevitable happened in the 85^th minute, when Singh floated in a cross into the box and Chhetri outjumped Rakip easily and headed the ball into the top left corner of the net.

There were a few more skirmishes as both the teams pressed hard for the winner, with Blasters's Nemanja Lakic-Pesic getting involved with Miku and Paartalu. However, Blasters managed to hold off Bengaluru to settle for yet another draw.

The result sees Bengaluru extend their lead atop the table, while Kerala Blasters remain winless in 14 matches.