ISL 5: Kerala Blasters beat ATK to kick-off new season
Kolkata:perseverance pays. Kerala Blasters showed that in Saturday’s 2-0 win, their first against ATK since 2014. As did Matej Poplatnik. Poplatnik’s 77th-minute goal, which made him the first scorer in ISL5, hinged on a fortuitous deflection. The Kerala Blasters’ striker could have scored a lot before that but was let down three times in the first half because he took an extra touch, having been unable to keep a free header on target before that.
But Poplatnik, 26, was at the heart of most forays Blasters made in a bid to straighten their skewed record against ATK. It was Poplatnik’s prompt from which Sahal Samad fired a longranger that needed Arindam Bhattacharya to stretch and from his corner left back Sena Ralte produced a goalline save.
Bhattacharya was among the changes rung in by new coach Steve Coppell. Debjit Majumdar is among the handful of players ATK retained, the goalkeeper being in the second season of a three-term deal. That the rest of the line-up would have a new look was a given and based on their opening night’s show, this overhauled ATK side has some settling down to do.
That was evident in the way central defenders John Johnson and Gerson Vieira let Poplatnik have a clear look on goal in the fourth minute and how Ralte ballwatched leading to Seiminlen Doungel getting a free header. And it showed in how uncomfortable Balwant Singh was as a wide right midfielder. “We have an awful lot of work to do, starting with not giving the ball away cheaply in such hot, humid conditions. They were better than us, we never really got any penetration. After the first goal, I got the feeling that there was no way back in for us barring a set-piece or a long-ranger. It was a painful lesson,” said Coppell.
On Sunday, Bengaluru FC face Chennaiyin FC.