NorthEast United FC held Kerala Blasters FC to a 0-0 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday, despite having to play with 10 men for over 60 minutes of the match. The result confirms a fourth-placed finish for the Highlanders and will pit them against table toppers Bengaluru FC in the semi-finals.

The fixture also brought an end to a disappointing Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 season for Kerala, who finished ninth in the table with just 15 points from 18 matches.

  • NorthEast defender Gurwinder Singh was sent off on the 23rd minute.
  • Kerala’s Courage Pekuson hit the post in the first-half.
  • The Highlanders defended resolutely to keep the scoreline at 0-0.

With the home crowd egging them on, Kerala started the match brightly and came close to scoring on the 12th minute when Matej Poplatnik set up Courage Pekuson for a shot from the edge of the box. The midfielder dragged his shot wide to let the Highlanders off the hook.

Eleven minutes later, Kerala broke with intent and Poplatnik looked through on goal only for Gurwinder Singh to clip him just before he could get inside the 18-yard box. The tackle resulted in a direct red for the NorthEast defender, as the referee deemed it to be an unfair challenge by the last man between the attacker and the goal.

Poplatnik's effort from the resulting free-kick took an awkward deflection off the NorthEast wall and narrowly missed the post.

With a man up, Kerala took control of the match and put pressure on the Highlanders defence. Pekuson was unlucky not to have found the net on the 34th minute when his drive from outside the box beat NorthEast goalkeeper Pawan Kumar but came back off the post. With the goal still under threat, Keegan Pereira was the first one to react and made sure he hoofed the ball out of the danger zone.

The home team got yet another chance to score minutes before the half-time whistle. Keziron Kizito embarked on a powerful run and fed Seiminlen Doungel inside the NorthEast box. Pawan Kumar, however, came out bravely to snuff out the danger.

The half-time whistle sounded with the score 0-0.

Shortly after the restart, the 10-man NorthEast side created a good opportunity. Panagiotis Triadis drove down the left wing with the ball and played in a brilliant cross to find substitute Lalrempuia Fanai inside the box. Fanai took a touch and got his shot off. Kerala custodian Dheeraj Singh was, however, vigilant and blocked the effort.

On the other end, Poplatnik squandered two great opportunities just before the hour mark. Doungel headed the ball down for an onrushing Poplatnik near the six-yard box. The striker directed the ball goalwards but it was straight at Pawan. The NorthEast keeper spilled the ball to give Poplatnik another bite at the cherry but made amends himself and dove in bravely to block the Slovenian’s stab at goal.

The NorthEast custodian was at the thick of things yet again a few minutes later and pulled off a sensational save to keep out Slavisa Stojanovic’s deflected drive from range. That would, however, be Pawan Kumar’s last notable contribution in the match. With Pawan having picked up a slight knock, NorthEast head coach Eelco Schattorie didn’t take any chances and brought on 19-year-old Gurmeet in his place. It was the youngster’s debut in the Hero ISL.

Despite being a man down, the Highlanders defended resolutely to deny Kerala any space and time on the ball during the course of the match. From whatever little Kerala created in the opposition third, they lacked the quality on the final ball to find the all-important goal. The match ended with the two teams sharing the spoils.

HERO OF THE MATCH - Lalthathanga Khawlhring

With his team a man down, Lalthathanga Khawlhring stepped up to the occasion with conviction and put in a brilliant shift on the night. The youngster put in the hard miles to chase down everything throughout the 90 minutes and was tireless in his effort to help the team out. He is the Hero of the Match.

CLUB AWARDS

Club Award – Kerala Blasters FC and NorthEast United FC

Swift Limitless Player of the Match – Rowllin Borges

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Keziron Kizito

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Sahal Abdul Samad

Hero of the Match – Lalthathanga Khawlhring

What’s Next?

NorthEast United FC will face Bengaluru FC in the two-legged semi-finals on March 7 and 11 respectively. The first leg will be hosted at Guwahati while Bengaluru will be the home team for the return leg.

Watch the match highlights here:

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Related tags:

Kerala Blasters FCNorthEast United FC Match Report2018-2019