ISL 2015: Kerala obliterate league leaders Pune in one-sided encounter
The final score of 2-0 in favour of Kerala Blasters, courtesy goals from Sanchez Watt and Chris Dagnall, does not fully reflect the hosts' complete dominance in the encounter between Kerala Blasters FC and FC Pune City at Kochi. With the win, their first in seven matches, Kerala climb out of the bottom. Pune, on the other hand, have now won only two of their last six games.
Under the guidance of their new manager Terry Phelan, Kerala looked transformed into a completely different unit tonight. They took the game by the scruff of the neck and did not let go till the final whistle.
The first chance of the game arrived in the third minute, when Mohammed Rafi was picked out in the box by Rahul Bheke's cross from the right wing. The forward, however, could not keep his header down. Both the Kerala full backs pushed up the pitch and tested the Pune defense with a lot of crosses.
Sandesh Jhingan missed a glorious chance in the 12th minute, when Mehtab Hossain's cross over the top of the Pune defense reached him at the far post. But the 22-year-old could not test the goalkeeper.
In the 21st minute, Joao Coimbra put Dagnall through on goal with a lovely through ball, but the English striker could only poke it wide of goal as he was charged down by Pune goalkeeper Steve Simonson.
The former Everton goalkeeper made two quick saves in the 27th minute to keep Pune in the game- first to keep out Dagnall's shot from a tight angle and then to tip away Watt's looping header.
Mohammed Rafi had a couple of chances as well, initially with a header from a corner and then a curling right footed attempt. While the header went over the bar, Simonsen did well to deny the second.
Pune were hanging on by the skin of their teeth as Rafi's three attempts, from inside the six-yard box, were blocked by Jhonson and Dharmaraj Ravanan. At this point it seemed like there will be a repeat of their performance against FC Goa earlier this season, where they dominated the game, but somehow ended up losing it.
But egged on by the home support, Kerala finally managed to find the back of the net at the end of the first half. In the 45th minute, a cross from Rahul Bheke was headed away by Roger Johnson, but the ball went only as far as Dagnall, who blasted it into the top corner.
At halftime, Pune manager David Platt would have been pleased that his team conceded just one goal after being outplayed all over the park.
Former Arsenal forward Sanchez Watt doubled Kerala's lead in the 60th minute. Dagnall found the forward on the left wing and the 24-year-old drifted in and found the bottom corner of the net with a measured finish.
By the end of the game, the Pune defense were down on their knees and stopped just short of begging for mercy. Kerala had 32 shots in the match, compared to Pune's five. The home side should have won by a bigger margin, but for now, these three points will do. It lifts them off the bottom of the table and they will go into their next match against Atletico Kolkata full of confidence.
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