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Kerala Blasters made it to the final with a 1-0 win over Jamshedpur FC by Sahal Abdul Samad’s goal in the first leg of the Indian Super League semi-final here on Friday.
Sahal scored in the 38th minute to give Kerala the lead and could have been 2-0 for the yellow shirt if Adrian Luna’s knuckleball free-kick hadn’t taken off the woodwork.
Faced with an initial threat from Jamshedpur, Kerala’s defense was also strong, with Marko Leskovic leading the way.
League Shield winners Jamshedpur looked off-color in the first half with Daniel Cheema Chukwu turning down two gilt-edge opportunities and Greg Stewart also missed his usual trickery in the last third.
The second leg on Thursday will be decisive but Kerala will go into the contest with an advantage.
Jamshedpur started on the front foot, with Cheema missing a golden opportunity to draw first blood when Prannoy Halder led a freekick from inside his own half, only to fire a volley wide for the in-form Nigerian.
Cheema got another chance to atone for his mistake, this time Halder did well again to win the ball off Puitiya and set the Nigerian up, but the veteran striker hit his marker and shot wide.
Meanwhile, it was heartbreaking for Seminelle Dongel as he picked up an injury and had to be replaced with birthday boy Mobashir Rahman.
Mobashir was in the thick of things almost immediately, finding the nearest post from a Stewart free-kick that was just off the training ground, outfoxing the Kerala shirt with a cheeky layoff for an unmarked Mobashir and crossing to the right. for, but he decided to try his luck himself, to no avail in the end.
For Kerala, Leskovic was at the top of his game, keeping the defense tight and making some crucial interceptions as Jamshedpur attacked with poison before Kerala scored against the run of the game.
lvaro Vázquez once again underlined his class and silky skill as Sahal scored a run and then played a delightful ball over him, which Ricky Lllawma tried to clear, but instead went to collect the ball for Sahal and Made it easy to sip on one. Carry on Renesh.
The second half started on a slow note before Adrian Luna’s free-kick came out from inside the post.
At the other end, Ritwik Das – who scored the winner against ATK Mohun Bagan to help Jamshedpur win the League Shield – sent an effort over the bar after Stewart and substitute Jordan Murray combined well in the last third.