Blasters striker Alvaro Vazquez canceled out Tomislav Marcela's opener as the Yellow Army moved to seventh in the table and East Bengal remained at the bottom.
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Kerala Blasters FC and SC East Bengal played out a 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League (ISL) fixture at the Tilak Maidan stadium on Sunday. Kerala Blasters came into the match on the back of a 2-1 win over Odisha FC while East Bengal suffered a 3-4 loss against FC Goa in the last match, extending their winless streak to six. Meanwhile this was the third consecutive draw between these two teams in the ISL. Tomislav Marcela put East Bengal in front before Alvaro Vazquez equalized for Kerala Blasters.
The Blasters started the match positively as they were keeping the ball possession and put it inside the net within the opening 15 minutes. The referee initially ruled it as a goal but disallowed it a few seconds later.
The Blasters had the advantage as the ball hit Amarjit Kiyam’s hand, just outside the penalty area, before reaching Vazquez. The Spanish striker slotted it into the net and the referee allowed the goal. However, after consultation with the assistant referees, R. Vankatesh reversed his decision as he had initially blown the whistle for Amarjit’s handball. That caused confusion and controversy.
Four minutes later, Blasters goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill pulled off a superb save to deny Antonio Perosevic. The Croatian cut inside from the right side of the penalty area before unleashing a left-footed curler, but Gill made a diving full stretch save to his left to prevent the ball from going into the top corner.
In the 37th minute, East Bengal broke the deadlock against the run of play. Marcela outmuscled Enes Sipovic to get on the end of Raju Gaikwad’s long throw and headed the ball past Gill at the near post. It was the Australian defender’s first goal of the ISL campaign.
Seven minutes later, Marcela was involved at the other end as Blasters equalized. Vazquez cut inside from the left before firing home from the edge of the box. The 30-year-old striker’s shot took a fortunate deflection off Marcela’s head before going past Sankar Roy and into the goal.
After a lively first half, the second half was a cagey affair as both sides failed to create too many clear cut chances. Although Blasters had the bulk of the ball possession the chances were few and far between as East Bengal defended pretty well. The Red and Gold Brigade tested Gill from counter attack as Perosevic’s low drive was pushed away by the 20-year-old custodian. Two Minutes from time, Perosevic was released through on goal but Gill quickly came off his line to thwart the danger.
The young Ludhiana-born goalkeeper, who came into the starting XI because of injury to Albino Gomez did a fine job between the posts. He was quick to read the game, was strong during set-piece situations and his shot stopping abilities were pretty good.
It was East Bengal’s third draw of the season and they remained at the bottom. Meanwhile Blasters moved to seventh in the points table. Blasters next face the in-form defending champions Mumbai City FC on Sunday while SC East Bengal take on Khalid Jamil’s North East United on Friday.
