Clutch: KBFC secured the win in a match that noticed Odisha lacking a penalty.
| Photo Credit: H VIBHU
Dimitrios Diamantakos watched painfully from the bench because the Kerala Blasters stored lacking one probability after one other. And when he got here in, simply earlier than the hour mark, the Greek ahead gave the impression to be in a rush. He scored the equaliser that introduced again the house aspect again to life. And some 20 minutes later, Adrian Luna produced a magnificence that noticed the Blasters defeat Odisha 2-1 in the Indian Super League on the Nehru Stadium right here on Friday evening.
It was a cheerful return for Blasters’ head coach Ivan Vukomanovic who was again in the dugout after finishing his 10-match ban. The victory additionally noticed the house aspect soar from the fifth spot to second in the league ladder.
After scoring a purpose minutes after his arrival, tapping in a pleasant cross from the left from Daisuke Sakai, Diamantakos nearly scored one other moments later however his try was well saved by the Odisha goalkeeper Amrinder Singh. And then got here the match-winner from Luna, who’s now turning to be the crew’s hero in each recreation. The captain grabbed a mispass from an Odisha participant and despatched a curling longranger from the proper that beat the goalkeeper hole.
While the Blasters tousled almost half dozen probabilities in the primary half, Odisha striker Diego Mauricio was an image of confidence.
He was robust and quick and stored troubling the defence. But the Brazilian, who scored the crew’s lone purpose making good use of a defence-splitting move from Stephen Goddard in the fifteenth minute, additionally missed a penalty later as Blasters’ goalkeeper Sachin Suresh got here up with a decisive save.
The end result: Kerala Blasters 2 (Diamantakos 66, Luna 84) bt Odisha FC 1(Mauricio 15).
