IT WAS A MEETING of Coppell and his former team Kerala Blasters. He received a warm welcome from the crowd.
The first real chance of the game was created by Keral Blasters fc. Vineeth had made a good run on the far left side of the box and Hume spotted him. With a floating ball to find him behind the defence line. The keeper was guarding the near post. Vineeth tried to head the ball to the far post but was not able to get much on it.
The next chance too was Kerala’s. Lalaruathara sent a cross from the left and Berbatov was at the end of it. He struck a full volley while at the far post and got blocked. A shout for hand ball went up by the KBFC players as Souvik Ghosh seemed to have handled the ball in the box.
Jamshedpur came in to the game late in the first half as Jhingan, who did not have the best of games, gave away a free kick at the edge of his own box. Memo was the one who took the kick and made KBFC keeper dive low to his left to punch the free kick away. The punched ball fell to a lurking Jerry and his attempt to score from about 10 yards out was saved again by Paul. That was the closest both teams got in the first half and the half ended goalless.
The second saw the first yellow shown to Mehtab after the experienced, who had been man-marking Berbatov made a clumsy challenge and gave away a free kick. There was another incident when Jerry rammed into Jhingan, making no attempt to win the ball from the defender. Jerry got yellow carded for his foul and got substituted by Farukh who replaced him.
There were some rigid tackles in the second half, mostly from Jamshedpur. Three yellows to the away side came within minutes of each other. Jamshedpur had a chance to get their first goal when an awkward back pass was not cleared well and a JFC player on the edge of the box laid it well to an oncoming Farukh. He had plenty of time to choose where to hit the ball, got power behind it but the shot was straight at Paul who saved it with ease. Kerala had a good chance to score and it fell to Pekuson, he shot with some power but could not keep his effort on target.
There was action late in the game when Jamshedpur’s changes started to take effect. Douties coming on late when most players were jogging on the field. Doutie’s pace caused problems for the KBFC defence. His cross just before the 90 minute mark was a good one and Belfort in the box got his header well to it. Paul, keeper of KBFC, who made some brilliant saves, kept the best for the last as he dived to his right to deny Belfort a goal against his former team. The game ended goalless. Back to back goalless draws for both teams.