A 65th-minute winner from Kervens Belfort saw Kerala Blasters register a 1-0 win over Delhi Dynamos in the first leg of their semi-final clash of the Indian Super League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday.
After a goalless first half, the home side seemed to be in a dangerous mood. They attacked form both flanks and kept knocking on Delhi’s doors.
The game finally saw a goal as Belfort ran from the left midfield. A couple of stepovers saw him skip past Rubén González Rocha and calmly side-foot the ball into goal even as Anas Edathodika slid in for a failed effort to block the shot.
Delhi responded with attacking intent despite the deficit. They won a corner in the 75th minute. Flaurent Malouda sent the ball in to a dangerous channel, where Marcus Toba lobbed it across goal as Marcelo Leite Pereira headed it towards the far right post only to be intercepted by Kerala keeper Cedric Hengbart.
Kerala though held on to the lead for the remaining 15 minutes of normal time.
The score
Kerala Blasters 1 (Kervens Belfort) beat Delhi Dynamos 0.