East Bengal FC returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Kerala Blasters FC in an Indian Super League match on Friday. This was the Red and Gold brigade’s first victory in five games, having last won 1-0 against Jamshedpur FC on December 21. A brilliant first half strike from PV Vishnu saw the hosts take the lead at half-time, before Hijazi Maher extended the advantage in the second half. Danish Farooq brought the Kerala Blasters FC back into the game with a late goal but in the end, it was only a consolation. With this win, the Red and Golds have also snapped their three-game losing streak in the current campaign.

The visitors had the lion’s share of possession in the initial exchanges of the game whereas the Red and Golds waited for their opportunity to pounce on counter-attacks.

The Blasters were pretty one-dimensional with their reliance on Noah Sadaoui on the right flank and the hosts took advantage of this pattern.

The game’s first chance fell to Dimitrios Diamantakos in the 15th minute when Naorem Mahesh Singh recycled possession and initiated a counter-attack. He released Diamantakos in space but Sachin Suresh kept out the Greek forward’s effort on target.

Minutes later, Sachin was indecisive with a parry from Cleiton Silva’s direct freekick on goal. Richard Celis latched onto the stray ball but he didn’t have enough space to slot it home. With these attacks, the hosts were gradually gaining momentum.

Oscar Bruzon’s men were rewarded in the 20th minute when Cleiton found Vishnu with an exquisite long ball on the right flank.

The youngster zoomed past his marker before dinking the ball over Sachin, who came out of his lines. The ball trickled over the goal-line as Korou Singh failed to clear the danger.

After taking the lead, East Bengal FC were the better team as they created some good openings. They almost doubled the lead when Diamantakos squared the ball to Cleiton in the penalty area before the Brazilian forced Sachin to come up with a fantastic save.

The hosts almost had the second goal when Celis decided to pull the trigger from long range. However, his effort struck the post on its way out.

This was the first in nine games that East Bengal FC ended the first half with a lead in this competition. The last time they held a lead at the break was against NorthEast United FC in November.

Kerala Blasters FC looked like an improved side as they started the second half with great intent. Noah orchestrated most of their moves as they kept pushing for the equaliser.

In the 58th minute, Kwame Peprah was introduced to add more attacking impetus as Milos Drincic made way for him.

Noah almost found the equaliser for the visitors when he broke through the entire East Bengal FC backline.

However, Lalchungnunga blocked the Moroccan’s eventual effort. In the meantime, Lalthanmawia Renthlei walked into the field replacing Korou.

In the 72nd minute, the hosts secured the goal when Hijazi rose the highest from a corner delivered by Mahesh and headed it home. He was completely unmarked and made full use of the opportunity, scoring his second goal of the current campaign.

Noah Sadaoui’s last-gasp goal handed Kerala Blasters a narrow 3-2 win over Odisha FC in their Indian Super League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Monday. Noah scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of the added time after both sides were locked 2-2. Blasters’ other two goals were scored by Kwame Peprah (60th) and Jesus Jimenez (73rd). Jerry Mawihmingthanga (4th) and Dori (80th) were the goal-scorers for Odisha FC. The Juggernauts are now winless in their last four games, and the Kochi-based team is unbeaten (W5, D2) in all seven games that Noah has found the back of the net this season, as the home team scored thrice in the final half hour of the game.

The Juggernauts made a positive start in the fourth minute, opting for a relatively direct route to surprise the Kerala Blasters defence.

Once inside the box, Dori aerially overpowered Pritam Kotal to make a headed pass for Jerry Mawihmingthanga, who was in the middle of the 18-yard area.

Jerry covered a few crucial yards with quick pace, made an impressive adjustment and deposited the ball into the bottom right corner with a slightly high footed shot to open the scoring.

Kwame Peprah managed to pull an equaliser in the 60th minute.

Korou Singh produced a creative through ball from the right flank that swung inside the Odisha FC defence. The pass was delivered at the perfect pace, but it was Peprah who outpaced Mourtada Fall and Rohit Kumar to get at the end of the pass and hammer it into the bottom left corner.

Kerala Blasters stepped up their attacking moves thereafter. The entire frontline came to the fore to dissect the Odisha FC defence in the 73rd minute.

Adrian Luna shifted to the right flank and curled in a cross for Noah on the far left post. Noah produced his smarts, making a headed pass to Jesus Jimenez at the centre rather than going for the goal.

Jimenez met the assist perfectly, booting the ball to the high centre of the net and getting the home side the lead.

Odisha FC regrouped following Jimenez’s strike. Diego Mauricio took a free-kick from the edge of the box down the centre, which was aimed perfectly at the top right corner, but saved in time by Sachin Suresh.

The ball was cleared but met Saviour Gama outside the 18-yard box. Gama unleashed a powerful effort that had to be saved by the Kerala Blasters goalkeeper at the high centre of the goal.

Dori immediately pounced upon the rebound, depositing the ball into the net from extremely close distance to level the scores in the 80th minute. However, their momentum was disrupted by Carlos Delgado getting sent off in the 83rd minute for picking his second yellow card.

Kerala Blasters capitalised on this one-man advantage, by outnumbering the Odisha FC defence in the final third. They kept chasing the winner deep inside the added time of the second half, with Noah delivering the finishing touch to enable them to get the three points from the night.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant beat Kerala Blasters 3-2 to register their fifth consecutive home win and cement their top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) points table here on Saturday. Despite holding 56.5 percent of the possession, the Mariners required two late goals to secure all three points from this fixture. The Mariners now have 26 points from 11 matches with the help of eight victories and two draws to be at the top of table. Kerala Blasters FC opened the game on an assertive note, with their frontline duo of Noah Sadaoui and Jesus Jimenez teasing the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence within the first five minutes.

Whilst Noah tried to strike home from outside of the box in the second minute, Jimenez made an attempt at goal from inside the box with his left foot, which was saved by Vishal Kaith in the fourth minute.

That didn’t deter Kerala Blasters from discovering options upfront, as their entire midfield worked cohesively to knock doors at the Mariners’ backline. Pritam Kotal sprinted ahead with quick pace and curled in a cross for Danish Farooq inside the box, but the latter’s shot landed off target past the right post.

Subhasish Bose joined in the attacking moves for the hosts, teaming up with Liston Colaco in the 18th minute, who laid up an accurate pass for the defender on the left side of the 18-yard box. Bose had a good opportunity to score in his 100th ISL appearance for the Mariners, but his shot lacked the pace to find its way past Sachin Suresh.

The home side’s moment of reckoning came in the 33rd minute though, as Asish Rai unleashed a powerful shot from distance that was stopped by Sachin, but the rebound fell in Jamie Maclaren’s path, who comfortably slotted it into the bottom left corner to help them secure the first goal of the match.

Increasingly, Kerala Blasters were finding it difficult to construct well-coordinated attacking moves. Jimenez took matters in his own hands in the 51st minute, and Adrian Luna simultaneously helped him by pressing high on the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence, helping the visitors recover possession.

Jimenez didn’t take too much time on the ball, hammering it into the bottom left corner from the outside of the 18-yard box upon taking a quick, deft touch and equalising the scores.

Sadaoui sprung into action following this move, hoping to get another goal in the favour of the Kochi-based team by riding the momentum in their favour.

In the following 15-odd minutes, he hit the target multiple times, most notably in the 67th minute from outside of the box. Despite the distance, his shot was well directed into the bottom right corner, but kept at bay by Kaith.

Kerala Blasters were successful in their effort of breaching past the Mariners’ defence in the 77th minute. They pushed up numbers during a set piece and Milos Drincic was placed perfectly to drill the ball into the high centre of the goal in a crowded Mohun Bagan Super Giant box to get the visitors a late advantage.

That opened the floodgates for an onslaught from the Mariners, as Jason Cummings came off the bench in the 80th minute. His partnership with Dimitrios Petratos has been lethal upfront and Saturday was no different, with the latter squaring up a pass for Cummings deep inside the box that was netted into the bottom left corner by the striker to bring the scores back to level terms in the 86th minute.

The Mariners kept pushing forward, earning free-kicks and corners alike. In the added time of the second half, Kerala Blasters defence was unable to clear their lines after a corner and Alberto Rodriguez, placed outside the 18-yard area, trusted his instincts to launch a shot into the bottom left corner to bag their third goal of the night, and notch all three points for the home side.

FC Goa clinched their 50th clean sheet in the competition and continued their formidable form as they edged past Kerala Blasters FC 1-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season on Thursday. It was an intensely cagey affair between the two teams, as neither was allowing an inch to their opposition. It was an interesting midfield tussle, with the Kerala Blasters FC preferring their homegrown talents, Vibin Mohanan and Freddy Lallawmawma, against FC Goa’s Carl McHugh-led midfield.

The first opportunity of the game fell to Iker Guarrotxena when the Spaniard struck the post from a well-planned freekick. It was straight out of the training ground and it took the opposition defenders by surprise. However, it was cleared away after hitting the far post with Sachin Suresh completely beaten between the sticks.

The Gaurs were relentless in attack post the 30-minute mark and their persistence eventually bore fruit when Sahil Tavora found Boris Singh on the right flank with acres of space. The winger tried his luck from a narrow angle and to everyone’s surprise, Sachin Suresh failed to parry the ball away, eventually conceding in the 40th minute.

It has been a tough inaugural season for Mikael Stahre with his team dropping points due to several individual errors. One such incident happened today with Sachin Suresh fluffing his lines which otherwise was a very regulation save. Now the goal handed FC Goa the lead at the break, allowing the visitors to dictate terms in the second period.

The Gaurs started the second half just like they finished the first one. They almost doubled their lead when Dejan Drazic was in behind the Blasters’ backline on a fast break. He wriggled his way past Pritam Kotal but was eventually denied by Sachin Suresh.

With Manolo Marquez’s men continuing their onslaught, Stahre decided to shake things up with wholesale changes in the 56th minute. He brought on the likes of Kwame Peprah, Korou Singh and Sandeep Singh replacing Jesus Jimenez, Rahul KP and Pritam Kotal respectively.

Peprah was off the blocks quickly with a brilliantly weighted diagonal ball to Noah Sadaoui. However, the Moroccan’s final ball intended towards Luna was expertly blocked by Akash Sangwan. There was a spell in between which belonged to the hosts but the likes of Odei Onaindia and Sandesh Jhingan held their fort with aplomb.

In the 84th minute, Manolo turned to his substitutions as he brought on the trio of Armando Sadiku, Borja Herrera and Udanta Singh to freshen things up for the visitors. FC Goa’s defenders were once again called into action by young Korou, who took two attempts on goal in quick succession but both times it was kept out. The youngster was in a great position to equalise in the first instance but he was denied by an excellent block from Jhingan, who threw his body on the line to safeguard the lead for the Gaurs.

Bengaluru FC will face defending champions Mohun Bagan in the second semifinal of the Durand Cup after the two teams secured contrasting wins in their respective last-eight clashes on Friday. While Mohun Bagan edged past Punjab FC 6-5 in tie-breaker after both sides ended 3-3 in regulation time, a late injury-time goal by Pererya Diaz ensured a 1-0 win for the Blues over Kerala Blasters in another quarterfinals. In a match where fortune swung like a pendulum, it was Luca Majcen who gave Punjab FC the lead in the 17th minute courtesy a spot-kick but Suhail Bhat (44th) and Manvir Singh (48th) put the green and maroon brigade ahead at the start of the second half.

Punjab were up 3-2 by the 71st minute with Filip Mrzljak (63rd) and Norberto Ezequiel Vidal (71st) finding the back of the net.

However, Aussie star Jason Cummings restored parity in the 79th minute to take the game into the extra time.

In the tie-breaker, Cummings missed Bagan’s first spot-kick but Punjab’s Croatian defender Novoselec was stopped by Mariners keeper Vishal Kaith from converting the fifth kick when they were on cusp of victory. It was Greg Stewart who promptly brought Bagan back on level terms.

As sudden death kicked in, Melroy Assisi converted for the Shers and so did Subhashish Bose and Aldred with the winning kick for MBSG, but Vishal’s second save, this time off Denechandram Meetei, turned decisive in the end.

Among Bagan’s other scorers in the tie-breaker were Manvir, Liston Colaco and Dimi Petratos while Vinit Rai, Vidal, Bakenga and Mrzljak scored for the losers.

The other match at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan started on a tense note when Kerala Blasters’ goalkeeper Som Kumar clashed heads with Bengaluru’s striker Pererya Diaz, forcing the Tuskers’s coach to make an early substitution and bringing in backup goalkeeper Sachin.

The first half was a display of tactical play, with both sides testing each other’s defences but failing to break the deadlock.

Bengaluru FC dominated possession, but despite their control, they couldn’t capitalise, with only one of their six shots on target.

Kerala Blasters came close to scoring in the 26th minute, but Blues’ goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu denied the effort from Noah Wail Sadaoui.

The second half saw the Blues pushing forward aggressively, but they were unable to convert their opportunities. A notable chance came in the 56th minute, but Pererya Diaz failed to connect with a cross from Shivaldo.

Bengaluru continued to dominate possession, yet their efforts were consistently thwarted by a resilient Kerala defence.

Sunil Chhetri‘s introduction in the 67th minute added more pressure on Kerala Blasters, but both teams struggled to find a decisive moment.

In the dying moments of injury time, Bengaluru was awarded a free-kick just outside the box.

Chhetri’s attempt was blocked by the wall, leading to a corner. From that corner, Pererya Diaz finally broke the deadlock, slotting the ball into the near post in the 94th minute to seal the win for Bengaluru FC.

In the first semifinal, Northeast United FC will face Shillong Lajong FC in Shillong on Saturday.

Defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant and their archrivals East Bengal FC, the two finalists from the previous edition, have been drawn together in the same group as the group stage draw for the upcoming Durand Cup 2024 was unveiled on Thursday. The 24 teams from the ISL, I-League, international teams, and teams from the Armed Forces will fight it out in Asia’s oldest football tournament, scheduled to commence on July 27. Notably, international teams will also feature with Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC and Bangladesh Army Football Team, both returning from the previous edition.

This year, Jamshedpur and Shillong join Kokrajhar and Kolkata as host cities, with each hosting group stage fixtures. Kolkata, the main venue, will host three groups, while Jamshedpur, Shillong, and Kokrajhar will each host one group.

The tournament will follow a round-robin league format with knockout stages, culminating in the final at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. In total, 43 matches will be played and the top teams from each group, along with the two best second-placed teams, will advance to the knockout phase.

Here are the groups for Durand Cup 2024:

Group A (Kolkata): Mohun Bagan SG, East Bengal FC, Indian Air Force FT, Downtown Heroes FC

Group B (Kolkata): Bengaluru FC, Inter Kashi FC, Indian Navy FT, Mohammedan SC

Group C (Kolkata): Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, Punjab FC, CISF Protectors FT

Group D (Jamshedpur): Jamshedpur FC, Chennaiyin FC, Indian Army FT, Bangladesh Army FT

Group E (Kokrajhar): Odisha FC, NorthEast United FC, Bodoland FC, BSF FT

Group F (Shillong): FC Goa, Hyderabad FC, Shillong Lajong FC, Tribhuvan Army FC

File image of Mohun Bagan players Anirudh Thapa and Jason Cummings.© X (Twitter)