After a thrilling seven-goal encounter at the Kaloor Stadium in Kochi, on Wednesday, March 13th, Mohun Bagan overcame the Kerala Blasters, maintaining pressure on Mumbai City at the top of the ISL table. The 5th-placed Blasters went toe-to-toe with the Shield contenders, but came up short by the barest of margins in the end, losing 4-3. After a cagey first half, in which the Mariners led 1 – 0, the game sparked into life in the second half. Both teams traded goals, but it was Jason Cummings’ insurance goal in the seventh minute of added time that proved to be the winner.
With Mumbai City advancing to the top of the table after their victory over Northeast United last night, Mohun Bagan needed to respond during their trip to Kerala to keep up with the frontrunners. In preparation, Antonio Lopez made three changes to the side that ousted rivals East Bengal, which included dropping goalscorers Liston Colaco and Jason Cummings to the bench. The Spanish tactician also adjusted the formation from a 3–4–3 to a 3–2–4–1 for this encounter.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Blasters, who had started the 2023-24 ISL campaign in fine form, were shrivelling up at the tail end of the season. The Blasters went into this game having lost four of the last five league games, and six of the previous eight in all competitions. Yet, the Blasters had effectively qualified for the ISL playoffs and had the chance to guarantee it with a win against the Mariners.
The game kicked off in front of a characteristically raucous Blasters crowd, but the home supporters were quickly silenced by Armando Sadiku’s 4th-minute opener. Following a strong tackle from Anwar Ali, the ball fell to the Albanian centre-forward, who, using his strength to shake off a tackle, ripped the ball past Karanjit Singh and into the Blasters’ net.
The home side responded well after going behind, slowly getting a foothold in the game. In the 14th minute, left-winger Daisuke Sakai cut in on his right foot and unleashed a curler that seemed destined for the far corner. But, Vishal Kaith got across and parried the ball away.
After the early flourish, the game entered a lull period as both teams tried to create opportunities without sacrificing numbers from the back. At halftime, the numbers suggested an even contest in most categories, apart from the fifteen crosses the Blasters put into the box, compared to the visitors’ two.
Just as Mohun Bagan began easing control away from the hosts, at the beginning of the second half, the Blasters struck through local boy Vibin Mohanan. A brilliant and intricate exchange between the goal scorer and Rahul KP set up what was Mohanan’s first-ever ISL goal.
The Blasters’ equalizer had a cascading effect as the game completely opened up. Sadiku, who had replaced an in-form Cummings in the starting lineup for this fixture, rewarded his manager’s bold decision with a second goal at the hour mark. But the Mariners’ advantage hardly lasted three minutes, as Blasters’ top-scorer Dimitrios Diamantakos equalized in the 63rd minute.
The tide shifted erratically in the ensuing minutes, and the Blasters’ fans enjoyed the spectacle in full voice. In the 68th minute, Abhishek Suryavanshi tested Karanjit Singh with a long-range drive but the veteran goalkeeper, alive to the moment, made a crucial save. However, Deepak Tangri reinstated Mohun Bagan’s advantage with a firm back-post header from the resulting corner. The scoreline now read 3 – 2 in favour of the visitors.
For the remainder of the game, the Blasters committed numbers forward in an attempt to snatch another equaliser. This resulted in a plethora of opportunities at the other end. In the 73rd minute, Manvir Singh squared the ball to Sadiku giving him a chance to complete his hat-trick. But a last-ditch challenge from behind, that may have warranted a penalty, prevented him from reaching out and putting away the game.
Four minutes later, Dimitri Petratos had two attempts to kill the game, but the first one ripped off the crossbar and the second went wide. Petratos’ replacement Liston Colaco was through on goal, all the way from the half-line, in the 93rd minute but a heavy touch allowed Karanjit to come out and smother. Cummings, also freshly subbed on, tried to follow up into the empty net, but a mixture of a harrying Karanjit and an improvised goal-line block from Marko Lešković kept the Blasters from conceding.
In the 7th minute of added time, Mohun Bagan finally seemed to have put the game to bed when Cummings finished off a 3-on-2 situation to give his side the match’s first two-goal cushion. But just as the Blasters were written off, Diamontakos pulled one back after meeting Emmanuel Justine’s cross with a well-placed header in the 99th minute. This time, however, it was too little too late, as the referee blew the full-time whistle just as play restarted.
During the post-match interview, the Kerala Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanović said he was proud of his team’s relentless performance, given their injury-ridden roster. However, he admitted he was disappointed to see his team leak goals at crucial junctures due to individual mistakes.
The Blasters still need three points in their three remaining fixtures to confirm their play-off position. Vukomanović said his team will play these fixtures without fretting about the points, as a busy travel schedule and injuries to key players will likely call for heavy squad rotation.
The Mariners, on the other hand, held onto three crucial points. They are now level on points with Mumbai City, trailing by a goal difference of one, but have a game to spare. Lopez’s side will host Chennaiyin in their next game, on the other side of the international break.
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