Kochi- Kerala Blasters FC climbed to third place in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 with a dominant 3-1 victory over Jamshedpur FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here on Tuesday, which was capped off with one of the best goals of the season.
The Tuskers got off to an electric start to the game with deflected efforts from Sahal Abdul Samad and Adrian Luna going just wide off the post within the first five minutes of the game.
Dimitrios Diamantakos was posing challenges for the Jamshedpur FC backline before playing a low-driven cross from the left flank onto the path of Apostolos Giannou in the 9th minute, who put the ball into the back of the net with a backheel flick.
Despite Kerala Blasters’ great start, Jamshedpur FC were finding space for counterattacks. Prabhsukhan Gill came out of his line to stop one of these attacks, but his clearance landed into the path of Daniel Chukwu, whose brilliant chipped effort from outside the box levelled the scores in the 17th minute. The goal came against the run of play and helped Jamshedpur FC calm things down after a thrilling start.
Kerala Blasters were smart on the left flank in the first half and were rewarded with a penalty when Jessel Carneiro’s cross met Boris Singh’s hand in the 30th minute. Diamantakos made no mistake from the spot by sending the keeper the wrong way to give Kerala Blasters a 2-1 lead heading into the second half.
Jamshedpur FC kept Kerala Blasters quiet for the first 15 minutes of the second half, and Ishan Pandita was a threat, but they didn’t carve out any clear-cut chances during this period. However, there wasn’t much they could do about Kerala Blasters’ third goal.
Adrian Luna got some space in midfield and started off a spectacular team goal by running in towards the box, making the first of five one-touch passes before applying the finish.
The ball quickly went from one side of the box to the other via Samad, Giannou, and Diamantakos before being teed up for a low left-footed drive for Luna. Jamshedpur FC’s defenders could do little to stop this creative move from the Blasters, and that summed up the night for them.
Kerala Blasters will now look to keep up their run of form against Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena in Mumbai on January 7 in a clash of the two most threatening attacking sides in the league. Jamshedpur FC will host Chennaiyin FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on the same day.
–IANS
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