Indian Arrows captain Amarjit Kiyam struck on the 39th minute to put his team in the lead and then converted a penalty in the second half to seal the result. The loss marks the end of a disappointing season for Kerala Blasters, who crashed out of the tournament. The Indian Arrows move on to the Round of 16 of the competition and will next face FC Goa on March 30.
Kerala Blasters started the match brightly, with Slavisa Stojanovic testing Indian Arrows goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill within the opening three minutes of the contest. The striker stepped inside from the left-hand side and let one fly, drawing out a brilliant save from the youngster. It would be a first of many crucial interventions from the Indian Arrows custodian, who was adjudged the Hero of the Match for his stellar performance.
As the match progressed, the Indian Arrows slowly settled down showing great composure at the back and looked to counter-attack, primarily through the wings. Right-back Boris Singh Thangjam, in particular, was ever-present on both ends of the pitch, keeping the Kerala Blasters defence on its toes with his overlapping runs.
However, it was the team from Kochi who carved out the second big opportunity of the match on the 15th minute. Sahal Abdul Samad, who has been Kerala Blasters’ standout player in the ISL this season, showcased some quick feet to dance past a crowd of defenders to create a shooting opportunity for himself. But Prabhsukhan had his angles well covered.
For Indian Arrows, Boris was at the thick of things throughout and almost created the opening goal of the match. The 19-year-old did brilliantly to get to the touchline and fizzed in a teasing cross towards the six-yard box. With Lalengmawia sliding in to get the telling touch, it took an outstanding interception by a back-tracking Anas Edathodika to clear the danger.
Spurred on by the move, the young Indian Arrows side began dominating the proceedings, driving the Kerala Blasters team on the backfoot and adding to Nelo Vingada’s woes in the dugout. The consistent pressure would eventually pay off. The move – one of the many the Indian Arrows created through the right – saw Khumanthem Meetei free down the flank after an intricate bit of interplay with Boris. The youngster showed impeccable composure to control the ball and cut it back to find captain Amarjit Kiyam’s run from the deep. He fired the ball past Kerala goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh to give the Indian Arrows a well-deserved lead on the 39th minute.
A goal down, Kerala Blasters players tried to up the ante in search of a quick equaliser but was snuffed out by a very well-organized collective performance by the Indian Arrows backline. The half time whistle sounded with the Arrows leading 1-0.
After the restart, the Kerala Blasters tried to increase the tempo, playing short quick passes to bypass the Indian Arrows’ press. Matej Poplatnik did get a sight at goal early on but his snap shot was too straight to worry Prabhsukhan. With Kerala Blasters on the front-foot, the Arrows goalkeeper was kept busy and had to pull off another stunning save to deny Seiminlen Doungel’s effort around the 50-minute mark.
As the match trickled past the hour-mark, the tempo slowed down a tad, with both coaches looking at their bench to freshen things up. Vingada brought on Prasanth K in place of Slavisa Stojanovic, while his counterpart Floyd Pinto responded by bringing on striker Rahim Ali in place of Lalengmawia. The trend of the match saw Kerala Blasters boss the possession but their forward forays were indecisive at best.
Indian Arrows, on the other hand, defended resolutely and enjoyed short bursts of threatening possession. One such phase of play helped the Indian Arrows win a string of corners and one of them, eventually, led to their second goal. After a brief pinball session inside the Kerala Blasters box, Anas used his hands to prevent the ball from going into the net. The infraction earned the Kerala Blasters centre-back a red card and the Indian Arrows, a penalty. Amarjit stepped up to take the spot kick and promptly dispatched the ball past Dheeraj for the second time on the night.
Kerala Blasters could have pulled a goal back almost immediately, but Prabhsukhan was at hand to deny Kerala Blasters for the umpteenth time. With time running out, Vingada’s side tried desperately to breach the Indian Arrows’ blue wall but being a man down didn’t help their cause. On the 84th minute, the numbers evened out as Jitendra Singh was sent off for denying Sandesh Jhingan a chance to get a free run at goal.
The sending off would, however, have little consequences on the result, which ended 2-0 in the Indian Arrows’ favour.