Last season’s runners-up Kerala Blasters ended the campaign as they started it - on a similarly entertaining note after they drew 3-3 away on Thursday against a Delhi team which had already qualified for the playoffs. In attendance was also Liverpool legend Ian Rush.
With this draw, the Blasters finished on 13 points, and they will be glad to see the back of a turbulent season in which they became the first club to part ways with their manager in the middle of the league, that too after just six matches.
However, Trevor Morgan and Terry Phelan only fared marginally better than Peter Taylor as Kerala conceded too many goals (27) which saw them lose half their matches despite scoring a good amount of goals (22). The likes of Jhingan and Co who did so well in the first season, will be left scratching their heads at a dismal defensive showing throughout the tournament.
Three of their seven defeats proved to be costly ones at home; to Delhi, Atletico and a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of FC Goa in their last home game of the season. In the end, while there were individual flashes of brilliance from Dagnall, German and Rafi, it was never going to be enough to carry them over the line.
Leaky Delhi defence
Despite Sehnaj Singh grabbing a late equaliser for his team, Delhi coach Roberto Carlos must be a worried man. Although he spoke of an improvement in “scoring” in the aftermath of the game, Florent Malouda spoke about not committing mistakes in the semi-finals.
The reason for Carlos’ potential worry is that they have now let in eight goals in their last three games, against the likes of Chennaiyin, NorthEast and Kerala, only one of whom will qualify for the semi-finals. The likes of Hume, Reinaldo and others must be licking their lips at the prospect of facing this Delhi defence in the semis.
They have also now not kept a clean sheet since match-day six, and they have won only two of the last seven matches, collecting ten points in that span, as compared to 12 points in their first six fixtures.
All the three Kerala goals which were scored came from lapses and individual errors in the home defence. Delhi’s run to the semis was based on defensive stability which seems to have evaporated now.
Their strongest back five, Doblas, Adinga, Riise, Edathodika and Souvik Chakraborty were also the ones who started the heavy 4-0 defeat by Chennaiyin and Carlos can hope that his defence can get back to form before going to the semis.
High tempo first half
It was Delhi who started brightly and had an early lead in the sixth minute. The ball was fed to Malouda who took a touch and played an exquisite chipped through ball to Gustav Dos Santos, who made a run into the box but made no mistake as Sandip Nandy got a hand to the Brazilian’s shot and was powerless to stop the ball from going in.
Delhi conceded in a poor fashion almost immediately when a speculative cross from the right was at comfortable height for Anas who missed the ball completely and it made its way to Chris Dagnall, who could not believe his luck and put it away at the first time of asking from six yards.
Kerala should have been up 2-1 in the 26th minute when Roy in the Delhi goal fumbled a routine corner and Riise subsequent try at a clearance was bundled in to his own net by Roy, who appeared to be under no pressure from an opposition player. Instead, the referee blew for a foul by Kerala leaving Dagnall furious.
They did finally get their noses in front when German, who was growing into game, passed the ball to Joao Coimbra who was afforded way too much time in the box which he gleefully accepted and sent a placed finish into the top left corner of the Delhi net giving the keeper no chance.
They should have sealed the match when they got their third in the 39th minute, when German was the first to a ball floating around in the box and he swivelled and unleashed a powerful shot giving the goalie no chance, Delhi defenders again culpable of not closing down the man with the ball quickly enough.
The first half ended with the match 2-3 and in the balance as Mama floated in a great ball from the left and Adil Nabi scored with a beautiful, placed header. Roy almost gifted Kerala a fourth as he spilt German’s shot from outside the box before his defenders cleared it.
The game was very sedate in the second half as both sides had a string of half-chances which they failed to convert. Most notable amongst these came in the 72nd minute for Delhi when Dos Santos was left one-on-one with the last defender Jhingan who appeared to have been pulling him back and his chip over the keeper went narrowly wide.
The late equaliser came from nowhere as Sehnaj Singh collected the ball 35 yards out from the goal in the 92nd minute and slammed it towards goal which went in at Nandy’s near post to deservedly level the match for Delhi.
Delhi might have got away with one here but they will have to do a lot more against better opponents. Their last round-robin match is against fellow qualifiers Goa, and the prize that is up for grabs is the first spot in the league table and a matchup against the fourth placed team in the semis, should Kolkata fail to win their remaining match.
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With this draw, the Blasters finished on 13 points, and they will be glad to see the back of a turbulent season in which they became the first club to part ways with their manager in the middle of the league, that too after just six matches.
However, Trevor Morgan and Terry Phelan only fared marginally better than Peter Taylor as Kerala conceded too many goals (27) which saw them lose half their matches despite scoring a good amount of goals (22). The likes of Jhingan and Co who did so well in the first season, will be left scratching their heads at a dismal defensive showing throughout the tournament.
Three of their seven defeats proved to be costly ones at home; to Delhi, Atletico and a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of FC Goa in their last home game of the season. In the end, while there were individual flashes of brilliance from Dagnall, German and Rafi, it was never going to be enough to carry them over the line.
Leaky Delhi defence
Despite Sehnaj Singh grabbing a late equaliser for his team, Delhi coach Roberto Carlos must be a worried man. Although he spoke of an improvement in “scoring” in the aftermath of the game, Florent Malouda spoke about not committing mistakes in the semi-finals.
The reason for Carlos’ potential worry is that they have now let in eight goals in their last three games, against the likes of Chennaiyin, NorthEast and Kerala, only one of whom will qualify for the semi-finals. The likes of Hume, Reinaldo and others must be licking their lips at the prospect of facing this Delhi defence in the semis.
They have also now not kept a clean sheet since match-day six, and they have won only two of the last seven matches, collecting ten points in that span, as compared to 12 points in their first six fixtures.
All the three Kerala goals which were scored came from lapses and individual errors in the home defence. Delhi’s run to the semis was based on defensive stability which seems to have evaporated now.
Their strongest back five, Doblas, Adinga, Riise, Edathodika and Souvik Chakraborty were also the ones who started the heavy 4-0 defeat by Chennaiyin and Carlos can hope that his defence can get back to form before going to the semis.
High tempo first half
It was Delhi who started brightly and had an early lead in the sixth minute. The ball was fed to Malouda who took a touch and played an exquisite chipped through ball to Gustav Dos Santos, who made a run into the box but made no mistake as Sandip Nandy got a hand to the Brazilian’s shot and was powerless to stop the ball from going in.
Delhi conceded in a poor fashion almost immediately when a speculative cross from the right was at comfortable height for Anas who missed the ball completely and it made its way to Chris Dagnall, who could not believe his luck and put it away at the first time of asking from six yards.
Kerala should have been up 2-1 in the 26th minute when Roy in the Delhi goal fumbled a routine corner and Riise subsequent try at a clearance was bundled in to his own net by Roy, who appeared to be under no pressure from an opposition player. Instead, the referee blew for a foul by Kerala leaving Dagnall furious.
They did finally get their noses in front when German, who was growing into game, passed the ball to Joao Coimbra who was afforded way too much time in the box which he gleefully accepted and sent a placed finish into the top left corner of the Delhi net giving the keeper no chance.
They should have sealed the match when they got their third in the 39th minute, when German was the first to a ball floating around in the box and he swivelled and unleashed a powerful shot giving the goalie no chance, Delhi defenders again culpable of not closing down the man with the ball quickly enough.
The first half ended with the match 2-3 and in the balance as Mama floated in a great ball from the left and Adil Nabi scored with a beautiful, placed header. Roy almost gifted Kerala a fourth as he spilt German’s shot from outside the box before his defenders cleared it.
The game was very sedate in the second half as both sides had a string of half-chances which they failed to convert. Most notable amongst these came in the 72nd minute for Delhi when Dos Santos was left one-on-one with the last defender Jhingan who appeared to have been pulling him back and his chip over the keeper went narrowly wide.
The late equaliser came from nowhere as Sehnaj Singh collected the ball 35 yards out from the goal in the 92nd minute and slammed it towards goal which went in at Nandy’s near post to deservedly level the match for Delhi.
Delhi might have got away with one here but they will have to do a lot more against better opponents. Their last round-robin match is against fellow qualifiers Goa, and the prize that is up for grabs is the first spot in the league table and a matchup against the fourth placed team in the semis, should Kolkata fail to win their remaining match.
