Kerala Blasters came back from a goal down to beat Mohammedan SC 2-1 in the Indian Super League 2024-25 at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Sunday.
Kwame Peprah and Jesus Jimenez scored to trump Mirjalol Kasimov’s opener from the penalty spot.
The game got off to a fast start as Kerala Blasters’ Noah Sadaoui found space in behind the defence after being set free by Adrian Luna in the vrey first minute. Nothing came from it though. Come the third, Noah had another chance as he darted in from the left and let a shot off that few harmlessly over and wide.
Mohammedan SC too got on the front foot as Carlos Franca managed to get in a few runs at the opposition defence but nothing came from them.
The flow of the game was hampered just past the 10th minute of the game as Zudika clashed into Luna. The Indian went into the referee’s books.
Rahul KP clattered into Joseph Adjei leaving the Ghanain unable to continue. New signee Florent Ogier had to come on in the 20th minute.
Mohammedan’s Franca set Lalremsanga free down the right and looked to dart into the box but was wrestled down by Mohammed Azhar. Another yellow card followed.
Franca was undeterred and tried again in the 27th minute. A one-two with Luwang Angousana set him free as Som Kumar rushed out of his box. Franca managed to get the telling touch before being swiped down by the debutant Blasters goalkeeper. The referee had no option but to point to the spot. Mirjalol Kasimov stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the net in the 28th minute.
Kerala Blasters wanted an answer immediately. Jesus Jimenez had hi shot rattle the crossbar in the 34th and had an attempt saved from the centre of the box. Noah Sadaoui too had chances but Mohammedan held on to their lead.
At the stroke of 45, Lalremsanga managed to pick Luna’s pockets in mid-field as the Blasters star had to hug his opponent down so as to not allow a clear opportunity and gladly accepted the yellow.
With mid-fielders in the referee’s book, Mikael Stahre decided to replace Azhar with Daish Farooq.
After the restart, Andrey Chernashov brought on Samad Ali Mallick for Zuidika.
Noah again did well in the 57th minute as he cut in from the left to let a shot loose but Padam Chhetri somehow parried the effort away to relative safety.
Makan Chothe replaced Bikash Singh soon after for fresher legs.
Franca had an opportunity to score or even pass it to his left for Chothe but ended up skiing his effort in the 58th.
Kerala Blasters decided to bring on more firepower as Kwame Peprah and Hormipam Ruivah replaced Rahul KP and Alexandre Coeff.
The effect was almost immediate.
Hormipam seemingly elbowed Franca to the ground inside the penalty box but the referee waved play on and showed the Mohammedan forward a yellow in the 66th.
The crowd booed the decision incessantly.
Peprah, at the other end, combined with Noah and Luna as Ghanian slid in to finish a first-time cross in the 67th minute.
The game within moments had turned upside inside a matter of second and the fans did not like it. Down came the shower of plastic bottles and abuses.
Things turned from bad to worse in the 75th as Jesus Jimenez headed Kerala Blasters in the lead from a brilliant cross by Naocha Singh.
By this point, the away fans had to be whisked further away from the Mohammedan ones after too being abused and pelted with plastic bottles.
The game too was halted for some time as the match commissioner got involved.
Play resumed once Pritam Kotal and Samad went over to the supporters in the stands and calmed down their tempers.
Noah had more chances to score but couldn’t as Lalremsanga too had a golden chance to level things for the home side but failed.
With the final whistle, the home fans let out a collective groan as the handful of away supporters danced in jubilation.
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