ISL 3: Blasters enter final beating Delhi on penalties

by Chittu Shetty December 14, 2016

Blasters edge past ten men Delhi, who came back to level on terms in aggregate before bowing out on penalties missing all three spot kicks

Malouda was exceptional today but disappointment in penalties

After an entertaining 120 minutes which saw three goals, one red card and few crucial goal line clearances, KBFC enter finals on the back of 2(3)-2(0) penalties win over Delhi who had a forgettable day in spot Kicks. The Tuskers managed to set up a repeat of the 2014 ISL final against Atletico de Kolkata with added advantage of playing the game at home.

The game began on a slightly slow note with Delhi chasing the one goal deficit from the first leg. However in the 20^th minute, Marcos Tebar’s probing ball into the box was poorly judged by Nandy, who elected to come out of his line even when there was no eminent danger from Delhi strike force. However it was Didier Kadio who cleared the ball before Nandy could reach him and as the clearance fell kindly for Marcelinho, the Brazilian volleyed the ball past Hengbart into an empty net.

But Kerala came back immediately thanks to an individual brilliance from Nazon who from left ran into the edge of the box with the ball before cutting in and expertly slotting the ball past Doblas to make it 1-1 for the game and 2-1 on aggregate.

At the half hour mark, Delhi were reduced to ten men, after Milan Singh was given his marching orders for a studs-up tackle on Mehtab Hossain. Soon Josu was booked to which meant the blasters full back would now miss the finals.

Playing with ten men Delhi once again took the lead, when in the last minute of added time before break, Tebar’s free-kick into the packed box, was headed off by Ruben Rocha towards the blasters net. Both sides entered the tunnel with scores tied at 2-2 on aggregate.

Also Read: ISL 3 Semifinal 1st leg: Blasters edge past Delhi 1-0

Second half of the game saw no goals although Delhi came close to scoring on number of occasion. Malouda and Marcelinho were dictating the proceedings most of the time although both failed to find finishing touches. On one such occasion, the French international made a good run from Kerala half dribbling past 4-5 players only to shoot the ball over at the end. At the other end, Vineeth came close but his header off Rafique’s cross was off target.

Delhi almost sneaked in their third goal of the night only to be denied by a brilliant goal line clearance. Tebar’s free-kick in to the box was headed goal wards by Malouda with Nandy once again judging wrongly and coming off his line; however Sandesh Jhingan made a superb goal-line save much to the disappointment of Delhi.

The full time whistle ended at score 2-1 and 2-2 on aggregate. With no away goal system in the tournament the match went in to extra time. Despite being down to ten men, it was Delhi who looked more likely to score.

In the extra time, the 36-year-old Malouda did well and beat Jhingan on pace before taking a shot from the left, the ball was well saved by Nandy but the rebound fell for the Brazilian Marcelinho who ended up shooting the ball few inches too high.

Delhi created few more half chances as the game ended without any more addition to scores and the match going into penalties. It was here that the hosts flattered horribly.

After Josu slotted the first Kerala attempt on goal, Malouda skied his shot into the orbit to give the visitors advantage. Doblas pulled off an amazing save from German’s shot to keep the host in the game; however Pelissari failed too, shooting over the bar. Belfort converted his free kick next but at the other end Nandy pulled off an amazing save to deny Memo and Delhi a goal as the score went 2-0 after three attempts each. Finally Rafique slotted the fourth Kerala attempt past the diving Doblas to seal the deal.

Kerala Blasters will now face Atletico de Kolkata on Sunday in what will be a repeat of inaugural final where ATK sneaked past the blasters in the last minute of extra time to win the title.

Delhi Dynamos (Marcelinho 21′, Rubén 45’+7’) 2 – 1 Kerala Blasters FC (Nazon 24’) Aggregate: 2(2) – 2(5)