ISL 2024-25: Mohun Bagan’s Rodriguez seals dramatic 3-2 win vs Kerala Blasters

Kolkata, Dec 14 (IANS) Defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant grabbed hold of their fifth consecutive home win by defeating Kerala Blasters FC 3-2 in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium here on Saturday night.

Despite holding 56.5% of the possession, the Mariners required two late goals to secure all three points from this fixture. The Mariners strengthened their position at the top of the table, with their tally now standing at 26 points from 11 matches with the help of eight victories and two draws.

Kerala Blasters FC opened the game on an assertive note, with their frontline duo of Noah Sadaoui and Jesus Jimenez teasing the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence within the first five minutes. Whilst Noah tried to strike home from outside of the box in the second minute, Jimenez attempted a goal from inside the box with his left foot, which was saved by Vishal Kaith in the fourth minute.

That didn’t deter Kerala Blasters FC from discovering options up front, as their entire midfield worked cohesively to knock on doors at the Mariners’ backline. Pritam Kotal sprinted ahead with a quick pace and curled in a cross for Danish Farooq inside the box, but the latter’s shot landed off-target past the right post.

The home side’s moment of reckoning came in the 33rd minute though, as Asish Rai unleashed a powerful shot from distance that was stopped by Sachin, but the rebound fell in Jamie Maclaren’s path, who comfortably slotted it into the bottom left corner to help them secure the first goal of the match.

Increasingly, Kerala Blasters FC were finding it slightly difficult to construct well-coordinated attacking moves. Jimenez took matters into his own hands in the 51st minute, and Adrian Luna simultaneously helped him by pressing high on the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence, helping the visitors recover possession. Jimenez didn’t take too much time on the ball, hammering it into the bottom left corner from the outside of the 18-yard box upon taking a quick, deft touch and equalising the score.

Sadaoui sprung into action following this move, hoping to get another goal in the favour of the Kochi-based team by riding the momentum in their favour. In the following 15-odd minutes, he hit the target multiple times, most notably in the 67th minute from outside of the box. Despite the distance, his shot was well directed into the bottom right corner but kept at bay by Kaith.

Kerala Blasters FC were successful in their effort of breaching past the Mariners’ defence in the 77th minute. They pushed up numbers during a set piece and Milos Drincic was placed perfectly to drill the ball into the high centre of the goal in a crowded Mohun Bagan Super Giant box to get the visitors a late advantage.

That opened the floodgates for an onslaught from the Mariners, as Jason Cummings came off the bench in the 80th minute. His partnership with Dimitrios Petratos has been lethal upfront and tonight was no different, with the latter squaring up a pass for Cummings deep inside the box that was netted into the bottom left corner by the striker to bring the scores back to level terms in the 86th minute.

The Mariners kept pushing forward, earning free-kicks and corners alike. In the added time of the second half, the Kerala Blasters FC defence was unable to clear their lines after a corner and Alberto Rodriguez, placed outside the 18-yard area, trusted his instincts to launch a shot into the bottom left corner to bag their third goal of the night, and notch all three points for the home side.

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