ISL 3: Kerala edge Pune to keep semis hopes alive

Kochi: Kerala Blasters put one foot in the semi-finals with an inspiring 2-1 win over FC Pune City here on Friday. Duckens Nazon and Aaron Hughes scored their maiden ISL goals, in the seventh and 57th minutes respectively, while Anibal Rodriguez pulled one back for Pune with a sumptuous freekick deep in injury time.

The win moved Kerala back into third place on 18 points, one above Delhi Dynamos, who have a game in hand. With two matches left, it will be a serious let down if Kerala miss out on the playoffs. But for Pune, stuck on 15 points and in fifth placed, even a win in their final league match in Kolkata on December 2, may not be sufficient to make the knockouts.

Steve Coppell had made five changes to his side that lost heavily in Mumbai. Marquee signing Aaron Hughes returned to captain the side after missing four matches for various reasons while Sandip Nandy came back in goal and Mohammed Rafi started after being dropped twice. Pune had three changes with former Kerala player Rahul Bheke reinstated at right-back in an all-Indian backline.

Kerala started brilliantly, Nazon and C.K. Vineeth, with an acrobatic effort, going close. The team in yellow were rewarded for their spell of pressure when Nazon, who led the line beside his Haiti national teammate Kervens Belfort, pounced on a Ravanan error to put the hosts in the lead.

As the initial momentum waned, Kerala appeared to chase the game, leaving a window open for counter-attacks. Nazon almost doubled the lead as he cut inside from the by-line with a shimmy, but hit the side netting and moments later Rafi followed suit.

At the other end, Bete continued to keep the game alive with a brilliant save to deny Vineeth, who was picked out by Nazon.

Kerala started the second half brightly and after Belfort had scuffed his shot and Rafi had fired straight at Bete, the second goal arrived. Northern Irishman Hughes was the unlikeliest scorer as he nodded in, at the far post, a Vineeth dink resulting from a deep corner.

The game opened up and after a powerful low drive from Antonio German, who replaced Nazon on 55 minutes, was parried by Bete’s fingertips Comadevall flashed over an outstretched Nandy. Soon, German was denied a shot on target by Ravanan’s block.

With a quarter of an hour left, both managers had played all their substitution cards and Dramane Traore, who was the last to come off the bench, forced a reflex save off Nandy. But the veteran could not keep out a brilliant Anibal free-kick that smashed into the net at the start of six minutes.