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Bengaluru FC’s attempt to stabalise a stuttering season hit yet another hurdle when Simon Grayson’s men went down 2-3 to Kerala Blasters at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday.
The Blues, who took the lead through Sunil Chhetri’s first goal (14′) of the season, found themselves pegged back through goals from Marko Leskovic (25′), Dimitrios Diamantakos (43′) and substitute Apostolos Giannou (70′). Javi Hernandez scored (81′) late to spark a possible revival, but the Kerala Blasters held firm to keep all points on the night.
Grayson named the same eleven who started against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Kanteerava last weekend, with new signing Pablo Perez finding a place on the bench. Brazilian midfielder Bruno Ramires – nursing a niggle – didn’t make the trip to Kochi.
The game’s first big moment fell Bengaluru FC’s way when referee Jamal Mohamed pointed to the spot after Chhetri – through on goal – went down after contact from Prabhsukhan Gill in goal. The Blues’ skipper stepped up and hit his take firm, low and beyond Gill to give Grayson’s men the lead.
The hosts found their way back into the game when Leskovic bundled home a ball that Kerala Blasters managed to recycle after an Adrian Luna free-kick came off the post. The Bengaluru FC defence should have done better in dealing with the ball, and were punished by a Kerala Blasters side that had been pushing for an equaliser.
The Kerala Blasters then grabbed the lead just before half time when Diamantakos finished a swift move from a tight angle at the near post after meeting Luna’s low cross from the left, as Ivan Vukomanovic’s side went into the tunnel with an advantage.
Grayson made a change to begin the second half with, introducing Parag Shrivas for Prabir Das, and switching to a back three in the process. The move turned the tide in Bengaluru FC’s favour as they found themselves with more possession.
Sensing the need to wrest back control, Vukomanovic made a change of his own, replacing Ivan Kaliuzhnyi with Apostolos Giannou. The Australian took only two minutes to impact the game when he scored Kerala Blasters’ third on the night, squeezing in a finish from a narrow angle from a Diamantakos pass through the white Bengaluru FC shirts.
Needing to throw everything at Kerala Blasters, Grayson rang in a triple change that included Sivasakthi Narayanan and Perez. And just when it looked like Bengaluru FC didn’t have much in the tank to respond, Hernandez turned up with a sweetly struck left-footed volley to make it 3-2, with ten minutes still left to play for. But the Kerala Blasters kept things tight at the back, seeing the game out to give them their fifth win on the spin.
The Blues return to the Kanteerava next, where they face Jamshedpur FC on Saturday, December 17.
