Kerala Blasters played exceptionally well against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in front of the home crowd on Wednesday, but unfortunately the result did not go in their favour. Blasters, filled with young and inexperienced players in their ranks, showed guts and plenty of fight in their 3-4 loss to a formidable side. In fact, Bagan exploited Blasters' inexperience to pocket three vital points.
Bagan's seasoned strikers created scoring opportunities from individual errors made by their rivals. When two strong teams take on each other, both should strive to play error-free football. Unfortunately, Blasters committed some sloppy errors and Bagan brilliantly capitalised on them.
Blasters, who are close to a play-off berth, should not be disappointed with this loss. There are plenty of positive takeaways for the Yellow Brigade from the match. The biggest plus is midfielder Vibin Mohanan's excellent performance. He played with confidence to pull strings in the middle of the park and showed the right intent to make things happen.
It was heartening to see Vibin rising to the occasion to fill the void in Blasters' midfield left by the absence of Adrian Luna. He tirelessly covered every blade of grass, created several goal-scoring opportunities and netted a goal in the 54th minute. In my opinion, he deserved to be the player of the match.
Vibin's entry to the national team should not be delayed. Once he gains experience at the highest level, he will definitely be a valuable addition to Indian football.
(The writer is a former captain of the Indian football team)
