ISL: Kerala Blasters edge Mohun Bagan, top league table

Kolkata: Kerala Blasters FC beat the Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) for the first time in the Indian Super League (ISL) to the top of the league table at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The 1-0 victory was courtesy of a ninth-minute strike by Dimitrios Diamantakos. This was the third straight loss for Mohun Bagan.

The scoreline might not suggest the upper hand that Kerala Blasters held in the proceedings, with their dynamic duo of Diamantakos and Kwame Peprah causing constant troubles to the Mariners’ backline. From going direct through long balls to the two forwards interlinking and finding ways around the home team’s defence, they left no stone unturned in chasing this victory.

Diamantakos missed hitting the target by mere inches when he brought down a cross by Pritam Kotal and shot it slightly above Vishal Kaith in the fourth minute. However, it was a sign of things to come, with the Greek forward producing one of the finest individual efforts of the season to bag the winner in this game.

Peprah’s long-range shot rebounded but Diamantakos was quick to collect that, before cutting into the box and making his way past Asish Rai and Hector Yuste before hammering the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle with his left foot.

The goal got the visitors on their feet as Diamantakos edged past Jorge Pereyra Diaz to become the leading goal-scorer in the league with seven strikes to his name. 

Bagan, despite the gifted frontline at their disposal, was not able to create many chances. Hugo Boumous showed some quick feet to get past Danish Farooq and curl in a cross for Armando Sadiku a little after the hour mark. However, the Albanians could not put enough power behind the shot to bag the equaliser. Vishal Kaith kept his calm to keep the scores level even in the added time of the second half.