KOCHI: After a hat-trick of defeats, Kerala Blasters rediscovered their winning touch at home with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC in the ISL encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Sunday.
The return of Noah Sadaoui from injury proved crucial for the hosts' as the Moroccan not only scored their second goal (70) but also played a key role in their win. The other goals came from Jesus Jimenez (56) and KP Rahul (90+2) in the second half.
Although Blasters controlled the match, it was the visitors who created the opening opportunity. A free kick awarded to Wilmar Jordan led to Lukas Brambilla's curling attempt towards the top left corner of Blasters' goal, but goalkeeper Sachin Suresh was equal to the task and thwarted the danger by saving the ball by diving to his right.
Blasters slowly started taking control of the proceedings with their first notable chance arriving in the 17th minute. Sandeep Singh's cross from the right found Jesus Jimenez, whose header struck the right post. Blasters maintained 66% possession in the first half.
Post-interval, Noah's presence on the right wing troubled Chennaiyin.
The moment the Blasters' fans were waiting for came in the 56th minute with Jimenez scoring in his sixth consecutive game. Luna made a good run along the left flank and from the left of the box, tried to find Sadaoui with a quick back pass. But Noah failed to reach the ball as he went down after colliding with a Chennaiyin defender. However, Korou Singh, who had a good game, collected the ball and took a shot toward the post. His shot went straight towards Jesus, who slotted the ball into the back of the net from close range.
In the 65th minute, Chennaiyin came close to scoring the equaliser after Brambilla managed to breach Blasters' defence and took a shot towards the goal. But his shot rebounded after hitting Milos Drincic. Chennaiyin players' appeals for handball were dismissed by the referee. Five minutes later, Blasters doubled their lead. Second-half substitute KP Rahul won the ball with a sliding effort and passed it to Luna, who with a slight touch found Noah on the left. Noah headed the ball into the right-hand corner of the net.
Desperate to reduce the margin, Chennaiyin pushed men forward in the dying minutes of the game, which in fact resulted in Blasters' third goal. On a counter, Noah received the ball from the Blasters' half and with no one to defend, he made a quick run along the right. On reaching the right of the box, he put the ball into the path of an advancing Rahul KP, who slotted the ball into the net. This was the Thrissur lad's first goal of the season.
Blasters climbed to eighth spot in the ISL table with this victory (11 points from nine games) while Chennaiyin are two spots above them at sixth (12 points from nine games).
