Guwahati: NorthEast United FC started their Indian Super League campaign on a positive note against the Sachin Tendulkar-owned franchisee Kerala Blasters thanks to a solo goal from Spanish striker Koke in the 45th minute that turned out to be the difference between both the sides on Monday at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here.
NEUFC edged past Kerala 1-0 as the 45th minute strike from Koke sealed the deal to hand all three points to the Guwahati-based club. With this win, at least for a day, the John Abraham co-owned franchise will go second on the points table; however that's inconsequential at the moment.
More than 20,000 fans were here on Monday at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, home of NorthEast United.
In the first half, it was was a tight contest and Kerala would definitely feet unlucky to go behind at the stroke of half-time but it was a fantastic effort from Koke that even the mighty David James could not keep out, and it turned out to be a deserving goal for the home team.
With Tendulkar as their co-owner, Kerala were boosted by some section of the crowd cheering for them and that surely helped them make a lively start to the match. The visitors almost bagged the first goal in the 16th minute as Iain Hume tapped in from close range but was rightly denied by the offisde flag. Then CS Sabeeth came close to scoring for the away team but couldn't go past the NEUFC goalie Alexandros Tzorvas.
Kerala, who played with Sabeeth and Hume upfront in what was almost a diamond formation for the away team, dominated most of the first half. Canadian striker Hume though did drop back to make space as Penn Orji never helped in defence but was surely a playmaker for the team along with Hume.
This mainly allowed NEUFC midfield to dominate at the end of first half when Kerala players seemed a little fatigued, thanks to some wonderful football from Durga Boro who came close to scoring but was brilliantly denied by James in the 35th minute.
Thereafter, Orji began to dictate proceedings from the middle of the park. Robin Gurung did well to intercept a through ball from Pearson as Sabeeth was lurking inside the box and would have been through on goal. But the goal instead came from home striker Koke and proved to be the killer blow for Kerala Blasters.
In the second half, Kerala had the first chance in the 55th minute when James McAllister's corner-kick saw Cedric Hengbart rise the highest but the effort was easily collected by the NorthEast United goalie.
Orji and Hume then combined well as the former found Hume whose return pass saw the Nigerian caught in an offside position and Chopra tapped the ball home but only after the whistle had been blown, much to the delight of the home fans.
Then in the dying moments, Hume did well to turn away from the NorthEast defenders but saw his shot being cleared off the line by Boithang Haokip. The ball fell to an unmarked Chopra who had enough time to place his shot but instead struck it into the bodies on the goal-line. He must have scored there but the India-born Englishman looked patchy from the moment he came in, in the second half.
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