So near yet so far: Blasters bungle penalty, have to stay happy with draw against Chennai

A MISSED PENALTY proved costly for Kerala Blasters as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw even after dominating most of the game against Chennaiyin FC. Playing under caretaker coach Trevor James Morgan, Kerala conceded in the first half via an Elano penalty, then equalized in the second half thanks to Chris Dagnall but missed out on going up as Chennai keeper Karanjit made a great penalty save off Josue Currais.

On charge for the first game, Trevor James Morgan introduced some fundamental changes in the Kerala Blasters line-up. No longer were they playing with the defence-heavy 5-3-2 but switched to a more aggressive 4-3-1-2 that made more use of the flanks. The new formation also allowed him to assemble a team that made the most of the individual talents in the team, fielding against a tough Chennaiyin side a first eleven that on paper looked stronger than those fielded before this season. He made 3 changes in the side: Bruno Perone, Sanchez Watt and Saumik Dey came into the side.

Chennaiyin FC also made 3 changes of their own in the starting line-up, bringing in Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte, Alessandro Potenza and Jeje Lalpekhlua into the side ahead of what Materazzi must have perceived as a difficult away fixture in spite of Kerala being at the bottom of the table.

And he was right. The new approach seemed to have enlivened the Blasters into being a more aggressive side that could work the midfield with vigour and throw more bodies forward at short notice. They were playing with a lot of bravado and little conservativeness. 

The Chennaiyin defence was called to task early with Coimbra feeding Dagnall who had some space inside the box. He forwarded the ball to Watt who was brilliantly tackled by Mehrajuddin Wadoo to avert a major danger for the visitors.

The match went on with Kerala asking a number of questions of the Chennai defence. Rafi, Watt and the rest never seemed to be far from the Chennai box and the danger continued to loom for the longest time. Mailson managed to hold off a run by Rafi, then Coimbra's sharp through ball by Coimbra got intercepted by Ralte. Rafi failed to keep a header off a Saumik Dey cross on target. 

Chennaiyin tried to make a few counters. Wadoo's pass to Jeje saw the national team striker butter the chance with a poor reception. Later Jeje's pass to Mendoza saw the joint top scorer take a shot which came off the defender towards Raphael who tried to pass it back to Mendoza but sent the ball out instead.

Coimbra's pass to Dagnall saw the striker come close as he charged at the goal with the ball. Karanjit sprinted out of his line to meet him and make a block to keep Chennai level.

Then things suddenly took a turn for the worse. As a high ball flew into the box Sandesh Jhingan got tangled up with Stiven Mendoza. The Chennaiyin striker went down and the referee immediately pointed towards the penalty spot. Kerala players protested but it was to no avail; Elano took the spot kick, cool as ever, sending Bywater the other way. Suddenly Chennai were 1-0 up and the complexion of the game had changed.

Chennai made some more onslaughts. Wadoo's pass to Mendoza saw the latter shoot on target but Bywater managed to save it with a brilliant dive to his left. Kerala tried to counter but Dagnall's shot went to straight to Karanjit. 

Things got worse for Kerala towards the end of the half as Joao Coimbra picked up an injury and had to be replaced. 

Josue made a run up and took a shot that hit the thigh of Mailson Alves. There was a call for handball but the referee rightly paidc no attention.

Then Kerala got a throw-in, which meant Rahul Bheke lined up for another of his long rangers. But Raphael cleared it. Elano got hold of the ball and sent it straight ahead. Ramage got to the ball but Mendoza robbed him and ran ahead and fed Thoi Singh. Thoi got past Williams but his finishing went wide. 

The first half ended with Chennaiyin FC on a 1-0 lead but at the outset of the second half the match turned around on its as one of the first moves of the period saw Saumik Dey send a brilliant cross in for Chris Dagnall whose shot went right in. It was 1-1 and Kerala Blasters were back in the game.

At once Kerala were back to their agile, dominating self from the first half. Josue took a free kick that fooled the wall but not Karanjit who ran out and caught the high ball. But during that Mailson and Ramage went down and for some mysterious reason the referee awarded  a penalty to Kerala Blasters. 

This brought Josue and Karanjit face to face again as the former stepped up to take the penalty kick. But the delivery was a it too slow and straight. Karanjit guessed it right, dived to his left, and made the save.

Given a life-line, Chnnaiyin FC threw everything at the contest to get a favourable result out of this. The fiestiness went a level up as cards came out frequently. Wadoo fouled Josue and got booked. THen Maison saw a yellow for bringing down Sanchez Watt. 

Rahul Bheke's cross reached Watt whose shot got deflected out for a corner. Then on the other end Elano sent one swinging towards Bywater who slapped it away.

Then came a major setback for the home team as Bruno Perone put a nasty tackle on Mendoza, which was more of a kick in the face that had the Chennaiyin striker bleeding from the mouth and nose. It was an ugly, unnecessary move and the referee sent him off immediately. Kerala Blasters were down to 10 men for the 15 remaining minutes.

The next few minutes saw both coaches take all their remaining subsitutions in quick succession that ate away at the clock and sent the match towards a draw that both teams seemed to be happy with. 

There were a couple of chances towards the end. Newly-introduced Fikru made a good move, getting past multiple KBFC defenders to set Thoi up with a cross but Sandesh managed to clear it. Then Bruno Pelissari tried to reach Thoi again but the latter could not reach it.

The scored of the high drama game remained 1-1 at the close. Kerala Blasters got their first win after four straight losses. A draw at home after the start they had seems like a waste, especially with their penalty miss. But Morgan might be happy with his managerial debut because they managed to keep a threatening Chennaiyin attack silent bar the lone penalty goal. The attack looked much more cohesive as well and they can perhaps be hopeful before taking on table toppers FC Pune City on Wednesday. 

For Chennaiyin, this result is nothing to be proud of but they will take it. It was a new-look Kerala side that almost gave them a run for their money and Materazzi will be glad that his team did not get caught unawares. With their opponents dominating for the majority of the game they were pushed in a precarous position where they had to spend most of the game in a defensive posture; something they have rarely had to do. Luckily for them, Karanjit Singh pulled off some incredible saves including the penalty to them that one point. With 10 points from 7 matches, Chennai are now 5th on the table, and they have a chance to break into the top four if they can take down FC Goa at a crucial home fixture on Thursday.