Kerala Blasters edged Jamshedpur FC on aggregate (2-1) to enter their third Indian Super League final. Having won the first leg of the semifinal 1-0, the Blasters held the league shield winners to a 1-1 draw in the second leg today at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa.
Adrian Luna scored the all-important goal in the 18th minute, while Pronay Halder equalised in the 50th minute, albeit off a hand ball, which the referee Harish Kundu failed to notice. The Red Miners needed one more goal to take the game to extra-time, but some resolute defending by the Blasters and the lack of quality in the final third by Jamshedpur, saw the Men in Yellow advance to their third final.
They were the finalists in the inaugural 2014 edition as well as in 2016.
In the first leg, Sahal Abdul Samad scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Kerala Blasters. They started the second leg without the injured Sahal but showed no signs of slowing down, almost taking the lead inside the first two minutes. Alvaro Vazquez tried to be cheeky when one-on-one with the keeper, dinking the ball over T.P. Rehenesh in Jamshedpur goal, but it went wide of the far post.
Four minutes later, Vazquez got possession deep inside his own half to then set up Ayush Adhikari but Rehenesh was alert to the danger, coming out of his line in time. Kerala found a lot of joy as Jamshedpur full-backs pushed forward leaving a lot of spaces for their rivals to exploit.
Adhikari got another chance from a Jorge Pereyra Diaz cross but Jamshedpur skipper Peter Hartley put his body on the line to snuff out the danger. Vazquez atoned for his miss earlier in the half soon after, flicking on a delightful pass from the left flank for Luna who darted in, dropped a shoulder and curled a side-footed effort past Rehenesh and into the right corner. At the break, Kerala led 2-0 on aggregate.
Five minutes into the re-start, Halder nicked one in to get Jamshedpur back in the game, poking in a Stewart corner which was initially met by Chima whose header lacked power. It fell to Halder after hitting his arm, and he netted from two yards out.
In the end, however, it wasn't enough for Jamshedpur.
Kerala Blasters will face either Hyderabad FC or ATK Mohun Bagan in the final on March 20 in Fatorda, Goa.
