9-man Kerala Blasters make a great escape against Punjab

Kerala Blasters produced one of their best defensive performances of the ISL season by beating Punjab FC 1-0 after receiving two red cards in New Delhi on Sunday.

Noah Sadaoui's 44th-minute penalty made the difference for the Blasters, who have won two of their last three matches since the sacking of head coach Mikael Stahre.

Interim coach T G Purushothaman should be thrilled at the manner in which his side saw off the game since centre-back Milos Drincic received a second yellow card in the 58th minute and Aiban Dohling got a straight red in the 74th minute. On both occasions, Malayali winger Leon Augustine was the instigator as he forced Drincic to commit a cynical foul on the edge of the box and got Aiban sent off for an aerial challenge that left the two players rolling on the ground.

Since the two setbacks, the Blasters sat back, or to say in more colloquial terms, parked the bus. But they did so with purpose. Sadaoui was sacrificed for defensive stability, and though it annoyed the Moroccan star player, credit to the Blasters dugout for smart man management.

For Blasters goalkeeper Sachin Suresh, the final 15 minutes were the most challenging period of his season yet. After a series of fatal errors that cost his side precious points, the young Thrissur custodian had a great opportunity to convince the fans of his qualities, and he did that with a much-improved display that included two saves, one requiring him to dive and full stretch to deny a certain goal at the far end. 

The Blasters have climbed, momentarily, to the ninth position on 17 points from 15 matches. They next play Odisha FC in Kochi on January 13.