Kochi: Kerala Blasters FC defeated East Bengal FC 3-1 to the tantalizing beats of the home crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
The match remained goalless till the 72nd minute until finally, the net shook. Nevertheless, the attacks led by the Kerala Blasters predicted a few goals were in sight. The East Bengal was put to test multiple times by the relentless Blasters forward. Harmanjot Khabra touched the ball from the middle of the field into the box. Adrian Luna threw himself and shot the ball into the net finally getting a breakthrough. Thus, Adrian Luna became the first goalscorer in the 2022-23 ISL season.
Within ten minutes, Blasters extended their lead through Ivan. In the final few minutes, East Bengal and Kerala Blasters converted corners into goals. Ivan Kalyuzhnyi scored the final two goals for the Blasters while Alex scored the consolation goal for Bengal. The last twenty minutes made the entire game different. It had goals enthralled with a fiery passion.
The comeback of another ISL Season could not be any better, one might add. The 60,000 fans of yellow and the players would say the same. The professional gameplay aligned with personal challenges. Both goalscorers for the Blasters had something lost this year. Adrian Luna lost his daughter to cystic fibrosis earlier this year while Ivan Kalyuzhnyi had his nation crumbling into pieces.
The game reverberated one certain quote by Juliette Drouet, “What is delayed is not lost”. The fans waited almost a long thousand days to watch it at the home, the abode of the Manjappada. Owing to the pandemic, the ISL restricted itself to a bubble. Now the bubble has burst and a sense of normality has been reached, the fandom is still fresh. The fervor and the love for the team are still rolling as it has never faded. The wait was long but the end results of today were pure bliss and in accordance with Juliette’s words.
The win set a standard for the “Kombans” to follow through the season. The sea of yellow witnessed the massive victory and wonderful gameplay the team showed today. Stephen Constantine, annoyed with the East Bengal defense, will take lessons from today’s failure and try to rectify it. Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters will look to keep the momentum on and win the trophy finally after a long wait.
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