Kerala Blasters shared points with NorthEast United following a gripping 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. Alaeddine Ajaraei’s goal from a freekick was equalised by Noah Sadaoui’s stunning strike as the Blasters salvaged a crucial point on the road.
Right from kickoff, it was a very high-intensity match with end-to-end football from both sides. However, the visitors made the more impressive moves with the likes of Sadaoui, Jesus Jimenez and Danish Farooq combining in attack. The Blasters almost had the opener when Sadaoui lost his marker and made a telling run down the left flank before finding Farooq in the box. Unfortunately the 28-year-old Indian failed to make contact with the ball with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Sadaoui kept pushing for the opening goal as he once again dropped a shoulder and rifled an effort from outside the box but it was a whisker away from nestling into the top corner. The momentum of the game gradually shifted towards the Highlanders as Jithin MS made a surging run forward before releasing Guillermo Fernandez in space near the penalty box. With only the keeper to beat, the Spaniard scuffed his shot wide.
A couple of minutes later, Guillermo and Ajaraei combined before the latter hammered a grounded effort which forced Sachin Suresh to come up with a sensational save before it brushed off the post.
At the start of the second half, Blaster coach Mikael Stahre turned to Kwame Peprah to replace Alexandre Coeff as he wanted to add more guile to the attack. The away side started the second half brightly with Rahul KP getting more involved in play for them. The winger had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock following Vibin Mohanan’s freekick which got deflected and fell right into Rahul’s path in the penalty area. Unfortunately, his effort couldn’t test Gurmeet Singh in goal.
However, NorthEast United made them pay courtesy of a goal from Ajaraei in the 58th minute. The Moroccan struck a free-kick straight on goal and on any other day, Sachin would gather it with ease. But the young goalkeeper faltered with his collection as the ball crossed the line.
Despite the goal, the visitors kept pushing forward in search of the equalizer. Sadaoui with his mazy runs caused a lot of problems for the Highlanders’ defence. The Blasters were eventually rewarded in the 67th minute when substitute Mohammed Aimen released Sadaoui just outside the box. The Moroccan superstar glided through a crowd of defenders before rifling his shot into the bottom left corner, beating Gurmeet completely in the process.
Things became slightly more difficult for the hosts when Asheer Akhtar was given the marching orders in the 82nd minute for a reckless tackle on Sadaoui. Kerala Blasters tried taking advantage of the situation as Aimen almost came close to scoring twice in quick succession. One opportunity saw him go past an on-rushing Gurmeet only to get denied by a tackle from Michel Zabaco.
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