You got to give it to Mikael Stahre. His Kerala Blasters will most certainly entertain. But along with aahs, there will be oohs aplenty too, like what transpired in the Indian Super League, in Bhubaneswar, against Odisha FC on Thursday. The Blasters blew away a 2-0 lead to settle for a 2-2 draw.
It was entertaining throughout and either side could have won it in the end. The Blasters were also unlucky to be not awarded a penalty in the dying moments when replays showed Noah Sadoui had been tripped inside the box. The referee saw nothing in there and chances swung like a pendulum, only to see the Blasters end their second away match with a draw, like the 1-1 against NorthEast earlier this week.
The Blasters were brilliant in attack, but nervous and unconvincing while defending. It showed in the two goals they conceded after Noah and Jesus Jimenez had scored on 18 and 21 minutes respectively.
Yet again, Blasters' goalkeeper Sachin Suresh blundered. He has not appeared convincing of late, and when Diego Mauricio fired in from the left, Sachin scrambled; his poor attempt at clearing the ball took a deflection off a hapless Alexandre Coeff and rolled in. Odisha came back strongly and found the equaliser, yet again with an attack from the wings. This time, from the right, through Jerry, who worked his way into the box and smartly found Mauricio for a simple finish, albeit one that questioned Sachin's goalkeeping abilities again.
Earlier, Moroccan attacker Noah put the Blasters ahead with a neat right-foot finish after being found arriving on his left by Jesus Jimenez. Noah returned the favour just three minutes later as the Spanish striker fired into the top corner to make it 2-0.
After the upcoming international break, the Blasters will head to Kolkata to face Mohammedan Sporting for their third away match in a row, on October 20.
