Kochi: Odisha FC flattered to deceive as they went down to Kerala Blasters by a late goal in their ISL-9 fixture here on Monday night.
Right-back Sandeep Singh headed in Kerala Blasters’ winning goal in the 86th minute, taking advantage of goalkeeper Amrinder Singh’s blunder. Amrinder rushed out to meet Bryce Miranda’s cross from the left, but completely missed the flight of the ball, leaving an open goal for an onrushing Sandeep.
It was a tale of two halves with Odisha FC dominating the first 45 minutes and hosts Kerala Blasters turning the tide from around the hour-mark.
The Juggernauts put the Blasters goal under sustained pressure and created quite a few openings. They were unlucky as Raynier Fernandes’ thundering shot early in the game thudded into the crossbar. The rebound fell for S Nandhakumar, but his volley was way off target.
Carlos Delgado managed a weak header which hardly tested Blasters goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill in the 24th minute. Victor Rodriguez then shot straight to the goalkeeper as another chance went abegging for Odisha FC.
Blasters shifted gears after change of ends and came in waves at the Odisha FC defence.
The normally solid Amrinder looked shaky and finally caved in to the pressure of the men in yellow.
It was Odisha’s fourth defeat in 11 matches, all of which have come on the road. They are in sixth place with 19 points. Kerala Blasters moved up to third with 22 points after 11 matches.
