Kerala Blasters entered the final of the Indian Super League after beating Delhi Dynamos through penalties in a tense semi-final encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.
Kerala struck thrice in the shoot-out while, Delhi obliged them by not finding the net even once. Delhi’s marquee player Florent Malouda and Bruno Pelissari failed to hit the target while Memo’s attempt was saved by the Blasters keeper Sandip Nandy.
The game stretched into extra period after Delhi took a 2-1 lead at the end of 90 minutes to level the aggregate score at 2-2. The subsequent 30 minutes saw many chances but did not materialise into goals.
The Kerala win set up a mouth-watering clash with Atletico de Kolkata in Kochi. It will be a repeat of the final of season one, when the Kolkata outfit had edged past the Blasters in the final minute of extra-time.
Earlier, Dynamos took the fight to Kerala despite having Milan Singh sent off in the 28th minute. Despite the setback it did not stop them from dictating terms for a majority of the 120 minutes.
Earlier, Delhi’s Marcelo Pereira opened the scoring in the 21st minute for the home side. Blasters’ Duckens Nazon though brought the score on level terms just three minutes later and gave them a decisive aggregate lead. Delhi’s Ruben Rocha scored just before the break to bring the scores level at on aggregate.
The score:
Delhi Dynamos 2 (Marcelo Pereira, Ruben Rocha) lose to Kerala Blasters 1 (Duckens Nazon) via penalties 3-0.