This season, the Kerala Blasters have not dropped a game while Dimitrios Diamantakos has scored. They defeated a rusty Mohun Bagan 1-0 at Salt Lake Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Wednesday, and it was to be no different. It was the Manjappada team’s maiden triumph against the Kolkata team.
In the first half, Mohun Bagan failed to muster a single shot due to Kochi’s impressive dominance. Despite having the better of the possession, they were helpless against Marko Leskovic’s Kerala defence.
In contrast, Diamantakos scored in just nine minutes after defeating Vishal Kaith. In the quest for the Golden Boot, it enabled him to defeat Jorge Pereyra Diaz, his former teammate.
But in the second half, Bagan made a strong comeback, throwing waves of attempts at the KBFC goal face. Up to the very last second, Dimitri Petratos and company continuously threatened Leskovic and Milos Drincic. But the opposition held firm and fielded a large defence to preserve their advantage. For the majority of the second half, KBFC stayed back and only moved forward when less dangerous counterattack possibilities presented themselves.
Rahul KP, a winger for the Blasters, was given a yellow card in the penultimate minute of extra time for a careless challenge. The following game he will be absent.
Top-ranked KBFC now has 26 games from 12 games, which is three more than FC Goa, which also has three games remaining.