ISL 2016 | Katsumi Yusa seals win for North East United in opener

ISL 2016 | Katsumi Yusa seals win for North East United in opener

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Following a gala opening ceremony, NorthEast United FC started their ISL 3.0 campaign on a winning note with a 1-0 win over Kerala Blasters at Guwahati today. New star signing Katsumi Yusa scored the solitary goal of the match early in the second half to give the hosts a well-deserved win.

The third edition of the ISL kicked off with the celebrations that the ISL has come to be known for - dance performances from bollywood stars Jacqueline Fernandez and Alia Bhatt preceded the opening match between hosts North East United owned by John Abraham and Sachin Tendulkar's Kerala Blasters FC at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati.

Line ups:

North East United FC(4-2-3-1): Subrata Paul (GK); Reagan, Mailson, Lazzaretti, Gurung; Rowlin, Romaric; Holicharan, Alfaro, Katsumi; Velez

Kerala Blasters XI(4-3-3): Graham Stack (GK); Jhingan, Hughes, Hengbart, Ishfaq; Vinit, Mehtab, Kadio; Belfort, German, Rafi

Kerala soak up the pressure

The match began with Kerala looking happy to soak up the pressure during the first 15 minutes as North East kept most of the possession. The hosts tried to make inroads into the box through new star signing Katsumi Yusa aided by long balls from Mailson Alves and Gustavo Lazzaretti. 

In the 24th minute, a misjugded pass from goalie Graham Stack looked to have given midfielder Romaric a straight shot at the goal but the Ivorains's tame shot was easily collected by Stack. NEUFC looked to have a great chances when they awarded a free kick just outside the box after Jhingan brought down Alfaro on the edge of the box but Yusa's set piece flew safely over the bar.

Kerala looked sharp on the counter as Antonio German took advantage of Romaric's sloppy play to shoot from 30 yards, but his shot hardly troubled Subrata Paul in goal. The first half ended with not many chances being created at each end.

NorthEast's pressure results in a goal

Kerala started the second half brightly as Jhingan's overlap down the right had Antonio German with a shot on the goal, but the North East's defenders were quick to close him down. But North East quickly regained their control over the ball as some good work from Rowlin Borges found Holicharan down the right, but the 22-year old flashed the ball across the face of the goal missing both Velez and Katsumi.

Soon in the 55th minute, Velez took out Jhingan down the left and played a perfect ball towards the far post where Katsumi was lurking, and with centre back Ishfaq and goalie Stack nowhere near him, the Japanese rolled the ball into an open net to score the first goal of the 2016 ISL. Subrata Paul then nearly gifted a goal back to Kerala in the 62nd minute when his poor clearance landed for German, with his back to the goal, to curl the ball into an empty net.

Kerala fail to get an equalizer

The hosts looked relaxed following the goal as they allowed Kerala to have more of the ball, but forwards Kadio and German hardly made an impact at the other end. Kerala coach Steve Coppell soon introduced Michael Chopra and Gurwinder Singh into the fray to get an equalizer. With the game safely in their pocket, NEUFC fans were then given a glimpse at their star signing Didier Zokora as he came on for Romaric in the 78th minute.

Michael Chopra had the ball at his mercy in the dying minutes of the game with a chance to put Kerala on par, but his delayed shot soon allowed the North East defenders to close him down. Apart from the one chance for Chopra, Kerala huffed and puffed but failed to land a shot on the goal.

North East, who had to blame their losses in the first three matches of the last season for a near-miss of the playoffs, will be elated with their winning start this year. Kerala, who had a disastrous season last year, however, look set to continue on a downward spiral.

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