A moment from the Kerala Blasters FC vs Bengaluru FC match
Aashiq Kuruniyan turned from a hero to a villain within four minutes when he found the opposition net, but then scored his own goal as Bengaluru FC played out a 1-1 draw against Kerala Blasters in an Indian Super League (ISL) match. on Sunday.
Kuruniyan put Bengaluru ahead in the 84th minute to give Kerala Blasters the lead after scoring his own goal in a nightmare of a match four minutes later. Bengaluru are now on four points from three matches while Blasters are still out of a win.
Marco Pezzuoli, on the back of a 3-1 loss at the hands of Odisha, brought in more creativity with Iman Basafa moving into midfield. Clayton Silva returned to lead the line.
Some changes were also made to the blasters. Puita starred alongside Jackson Singh in a double-pivot role, as lvaro Vazquez replaced Jorge Pereira Diaz.
Bengaluru were on top with the better delivery at the start, but the Blasters gave Jackson Singh a favorable opportunity within about two minutes.
Kuruniyan’s pace kept former teammate Harmanjot Singh Khabra in check and Basfa looked settled in deciding the game from the center of the pitch.
However, it was a battle of strategy with the Indian youth performing well. Vinci Barreto and Kurunian were involved in an intense clash over the wings.
Bengaluru deployed the idea of widening the game with Sunil Chhetri repeatedly bombarding the channels for Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh to thread the ball to the flanks.
On the other hand, Sahal Abdul Samad showed some clever moves to beat Roshan Singh and cross inside the box.
But, Kurunian was equally adept at the defensive duties, clearing out the threat in the 23rd minute.
There were some clumsy attempts from both sides but neither of them bothered the opposition goalkeeper much in the first half.
It was a frantic ten minutes after a change of ends. Clayton and Udanta together kept the Blasters worried. First the Brazilian hit a wide and then threw the ball over the bar.
The roles were reversed as Clayton found Udanta who took the ball wide. Surprisingly, without making any significant impact on the proceedings, Chhetri was replaced at the hour mark.
The final ten minutes defined the script of the game. Kuruniyan finds the ball on the edge of the box. After playing with Khabra, he shot at an angle and a spill from Albino Gomes saw the ball go into the net.
Moments later, it was an anti-climax. A cross from the left saw Leskovic aim for goal, but Kurunian, instead of clearing, shot into his own net.
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