Kerala Blasters registered their first win under Terry Phelan (head coach) and Trevor Morgan (assistant coach) and gave a huge relief to their fans.They beat Pune City FC by 2-0 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi (Kerala) on Wednesday night. Chris Dagnall (Kerala Blasters) broke the deadlock and put ahead the home team through a powerful shot in the injury time of the first half (45+1 minutes). Sanchez Watt extended the lead for the host in the 60th minutes of the match. The home team totally dominated the visitors in the match.
After this match, Kerala Blasters climbed up at No.7 position, while Pune City FC remained at top of the point table.
Here are the hits and flops from this match.
HITS
Chris Dagnall (Kerala Blasters FC):-The 29-year-old English striker was outstanding throughout the game. He continuously troubled the Pune City’s defenders. He scored goal through a fantastic shot in the injury time of the 1st half and made an assist at the time of Watt’s goal (60th minute). He has the ammunition to score more if he could finish better.
Steve Simonsen (FC Pune City):-Simonsen was looking a lone fighter for Pune in this match. The goal-keeper was valiant under the bar and made some superb saves. He failed to get any kind of support from defenders. He was totally helpless at the time of two conceding goals in this match.
FLOPS
Mohammed Rafid (Kerala Blasters FC):-Though he was looking good in this match, he could do much better. He had lots of opportunities to score, but his poor finishing efforts denied his team the goals. He managed just one shot on target out of nine. Surely he needs to improve in his finishing skill.
Pritam Kotal (FC Pune City):-The young Indian defender failed to prove himself on the field. He was easily beatable and failed to put any hassles to the opponent strikers. His fitness too wasn’t upto the mark. He needs a lot of improvement to get further chances.
