Kerala Blasters FC produced a stellar second half comeback, to win 2-1 against East Bengal FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in their Indian Super League 2024-25 fixture on Sunday.
In front of a passionate and vociferous home crowd, the Blasters struck twice through Noah Sadaoui and Kwame Peprah in the final 30 minutes to secure all three points from the contest.
Powered by impactful forwards from both ends, the opening half of the game saw close chances coming the way of the Blasters’ Jesus Jimenez and East Bengal’s Dimitrios Diamantakos. The duo was unable to convert those opportunities for their respective sides, but in the 59th minute, Diamantakos paved the way for the Red & Gold Brigade to take the lead against his former side.
Blasters defender Sandeep Singh’s clearance was intercepted by the lively Nandhakumar Sekar on the left flank for East Bengal. The attacker laid the ball for Diamantakos inside the box. The Greek forward could have attempted a shot, but he instead squared a pass for the 22-year-old Vishnu Puthiya on the right. Puthiya met the pass perfectly and tapped the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring for his side.
Sadaoui then began the comeback on, steering the offence forward and breaking past the East Bengal defence with utmost ease. His sharp footwork and movement in the box allowed him to get an equaliser past former Blasters goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill in the 63rd minute.
The proceedings were fairly balanced thereafter, but the home side arguably grew into the game on the back of their crowd support.
East Bengal defender Anwar Ali’s hasty clearance landed on the feet of Mohammed Aimen, who spotted Kwame Peprah with space near the 18-yard box. Peprah took his time and buried the ball into the back of the net in the 88th minute to seal the win for the Mikael Stahre-coached team.
This was the 12th goal after the 85th minute mark this season. The win sees the Blasters climb to sixth in the table with three points while East Bengal are 12th having lost both their opening matches.
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