Kerala Blasters rode on a strike from Kervens Belfort to defeat Delhi Dynamos 1-0 in the first leg of their Indian Super League semi-final on Sunday.

Belfort scored the winner in the 65th minute as Kerala registered their sixth consecutive win at their home ground.

The Haiti international picked up the ball in the Kerala half, made a long run into the opponent penalty box and dribbled past a defender before unleashing a shot which took a lucky deflection off Delhi defender Anas Edathodika and went in at the near post.

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Kerala will thus take a slender but important advantage into the second leg to be played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.

Kerala were on a five-match winning streak at their home ground before this match and they seemed to be in good shape for this encounter.

With Mehtab Hossain returning from suspension and Josu Prieto also back in the starting XI, Kerala were at their best.

Delhi Dynamos too looked good at start with all players being available and they almost silenced the huge crowd in the first minute itself.

A long hopeful ball from midfield saw Delhi’s Florent Malouda take aim but a clearance saw the ball fall for Kean Lewis. Before the Delhi Dynamos winger could try his luck, Kerala defender Cedric Hengbart deflected the ball away for a corner.

A minute later, it was Kerala’s turn to give Delhi a scare. From a counter attack, Belfort ran the length of the pitch and set it up for an unmarked C.K. Vineeth.

There was Duckens Nazon to his left but the in-form India striker chose to go for goal and instead ended up hitting the side netting from close range.

Delhi took time to show their attacking strength and top scorer Marcelinho Pereira went close in the 35th minute. The Brazilian did well to push his way past Mehtab Hossain and Didier Kadio, but Kerala goalkeeper Sandip Nandy proved equal to the challenge.

Kerala thought they had scored their opening goal and the stadium erupted in joy just before half time when an attempted back pass by Delhi’s Marcos Tébar saw Belfort intercept the ball and put it into the net.

But that celebration proved to be premature as the assistant referee ruled that Belfort had handled the ball while attempting to receive it.

But Belfort was not to be denied in the second session.

The 24-year-old striker picked up a pass from Cédric Hengbart near the centre line, ran quite a distance with the ball, sidestepped defender Ruben Gonzalez Rocha and unleashed a shot with only Delhi goalkeeper Antonio Doblas to beat.

The attempt was not powerful enough but a deflection from the sliding Anas Edathodika was enough to catch Doblas on the wrong foot and the ball went in at the near post.

Delhi’s response was strong with Malouda testing the rival goalkeeper and 10 minutes later, Kerala survived their biggest scare.

A corner kick from Malouda saw the Kerala Defence head it out but the ball came back for Tebar who lobbed it into the six-yard box where Marcelinho headed it dangerously towards goal but Hengbart proved to be Kerala’s saviour by heading it off the line.

The match was marred by violent scenes towards the the fag end when the referee denied Delhi what seemed to be a very strong case for a penalty.

Kerala’s star defender Sandesh Jhingan brought down Marcelinho inside the hosts’ penalty box during second half injury time. But the referee did not find anything wrong with the challenge and showed a yellow card to Delhi’s Richard Gadze for protesting.

That incident coupled with an off the ball foul on Marcelo Pereira by Kerala’s Didier Boris Kadio saw emotions boil over in the Delhi camp and the two sets of players indulged in a physical confrontation at the final whistle.

IANS

Kerala Blasters booked their ticket to the semi-finals in style, forcing a 1-0 victory over NorthEast United FC in an Indian Super League football match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The match was a virtual quarter-final as the victorius team was poised to advance to the semis.

Kerala will face Delhi while Mumbai City FC will take on Atleticode Kolkata in the two legged semi-final.

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Striker C.K. Vineeth continued his rich form with the winner in the 66th minute to show their rivals, who needed to win in order to topple Kerala, the door. Vineeth became the highest Indian scorer in the process with five strikes to his name.

Mohammed Rafi came closest to doubling the margin in the dying minutes of the match when his header was deflected on to the crosspiece by goalkeeper Graham Stack.

Kerala were without the services of Josue Currais Prieto and midfielder Mehtab Hossain, who was replaced by Azrack Mahamat, NorthEast missed Nicolas Velez.

In the fourth minute, the hosts had a chance to nose ahead when Duckens Nazon picked up the ball down the left channel and dribbled inside the box, but his effort found Rehenesh palming the ball out.

NorthEast’s Seityasen Singh looked good down the flanks, constantly testing the rival defenders with incisive runs.

At halftime, it was goalless.

NorthEast’s Emiliano Alfaro had two good chances after the break near the hour mark, the second one being a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Graham Stack after Seityasen Singh had set the Uruguayan up.

Kerala soon took the lead through Vineeth. The local lad, in prime form, netted his fifth goal in six matches with a crisp strike from just inside the box cutting in to his left and scoring at the far post with superb placement.

It was all Kerala thereafter as they strung together a flurry of attacks and came close to doubling their lead as substitute Antonio German found Rehenesh parrying away his stinging shot.

For the visitors, Seityasen and Romaric tried hard to level proceedings with Alfaro coming closest with an effort with fizzed off the post.

IANS

Kerala Blasters FC came from behind to beat FC Goa 2-1 in an Indian Super League match. 

Goa made a positive start with a Julio Cesar goal in the 24th minute. Second half strikes by Mohammed Rafi and Kervens Belfort capped off a superb comeback by Kerala as they registered their first away win of the season.

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With the win, Kerala are fifth on the standings with eight points from six matches, Goa are placed at the bottom of the eight team tournament with four points from as many matches.

Rafi dragged a shot wide in the 14th minute after a good lay-off by Belfort had set up the Indian striker on the edge of the box. Kerala’s failure to make their early pressure pay was punished by Goa 10 minutes later.

A quality cross from the left by Richarlyson found Cesar in a good position at the far post. The Brazilian striker outjumped Josu Currais and rose highest to power in a header to make it 1-0 for the hosts.

Goa custodian Subhasish Roy Chowdhury was called into action again in the 35th minute when a Sandesh Jhingan flick-on from a Blasters free-kick looked goal-bound. The Goa shot-stopper was alert to the danger and just managed to tip the ball over the crossbar to maintain his side’s 1-0 advantage at the break.

Kerala found their equaliser right from the restart after Mehtab Hossain found Mohammed Rafique with space on the right. Rafique’s dangerous low cross across Goa’s six-yard box was met by Rafi’s left foot to make it 1-1.

Cesar went close to restoring Goa’s lead in the 54th minute with an effort from range that was fractions wide of Kerala’s goal. The Brazilian’s next attempt forced Kerala goalkeeper Nandy into a save nine minutes later after a powerful free-kick from far out required the Indian goalkeeper’s intervention low to his left.

Kerala had a huge opportunity of scoring the winner when striker Michael Chopra found the ball at his feet in the 80th minute. His shot was saved by Chowdhury.

Goa looked shaky in defence with the game approaching its climax. Defender Gregory Arnolin almost scored an own goal in the 83rd minute when an attempted header back to Chowdhury struck the frame of Goa’s goal.

Belfort scored the winner a minute later for Kerala. The Haitian received a on the left flank before driving at Goa’s defence and unleashing a thunderous effort from distance to make it 2-1 and settle the match.

IANS