East Bengal punishes nineman Kerala Blasters
East Bengal FC defeated a nineman Kerala Blasters 42 on a night when things went horribly wrong for the home side in the ISL at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.
Shortly after taking the lead midway through the first half through a goal from Fedor Cernych who beat the EBFC goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh smartly, the Blasters – who were playing their last match at home in the league phase — appeared to be in nice flow. But things changed dramatically towards the end of the opening session.
First, Jeakson Singh was sent off with a second yel
Saul Crespo was lethal, finding the net twice on the night.
low and moments later, KBFC conceded a penalty in added time which Saul Crespo converted for the equaliser.
The Spaniard added one more from the middle of the box in the 71st minute
to give EBFC the lead. A few minutes later, the Blasters were down to nine men when defender Naocha Singh was sent off with a red card for headbutting C.K. Aman.
Ten minutes later, Dai
suke Sakai’s attempt to head away Naorem Mahesh’s shot slipped into his own net.
With the playoff berth confirmed on Tuesday night, after Odisha FC beat Punjab, KBFC replaced
ISL’s leading scorer Dimitrios Diamantakos and Cernych early in the second half.
But the home side, which had beaten EBFC in their previous meeting in November, will be very unhappy with the way things went tonight.
The result: Kerala Blasters FC 2 (Fedor Cernych 24, Hijazi Maher 84og) lost to East Bengal FC 4 (Saul Crespo 45+3pen & 71, Naorem Mahesh 83 & 87).
ISL: Sports 181 (SD & HD) & Jio Cinema, 7.30 p.m.
IPL: Star Sports 1 (SD & HD) & Jio Cinema, 7.30 p.m.
LaLiga: Sports 181 (SD & HD) & Jio Cinema, 11.30 p.m.
Premier League: SS Select 1, 2 (SD & HD) & Hotstar, 12 a.m. onwards (Friday)