ISL as it happened: Kerala Blasters 0-0 Mumbai City FC

**CLICK HERE FOR LIVE SCORES AND UPDATES OF THIS MATCH** Preview: Kerala Blasters face an uphill task of unlocking Mumbai City FC’s stingy defence when they meet in the reverse fixture at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday. Both the teams come into the match on the back of goalless draws. Mumbai City FC drew with FC Goa while Kerala Blasters drew with Delhi Dynamos. The disappointment was clearly palpable on Kerala Blasters player-manager David James’ face after the game against Delhi Dynamos. In the post match conversation on Star Sports he said, “We had a gameplan, we didn’t stick to it and that’s frustrating. These were points dropped.” [caption id=“attachment_1799003” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Both the teams come into the match on the back of goalless draws. Mumbai City FC drew with FC Goa while Kerala Blasters drew with Delhi Dynamos. ISL[/caption] To add to James’ challenge, he is up against a wily and experienced manager. “Peter Reid is an experienced manager and I don’t even think for a minute that he’s going to use the same tactics in this game as he used in the previous ones,” he said at the pre-match conference. After a run of five back-to-back away games which yielded just four points, Kerala finally had the relief of playing on the home turf against FC Goa and they started off with a 1-0 victory. According to David James, the mantra for Kerala Blasters is to make sure they win all home games. But it isn’t going to be an easy affair this time around as they first need to pierce a solid Mumbai City defense and then get past their in-form goalkeeper Subrata Paul. Mumbai have kept cleansheets in their last three matches and their back line has done exceedingly well since the 1-5 hammering at the hands of Chennaiyin FC. Centre-backs Manuel Friedrich and Pavel Cmovs have been rock solid. Subrata Paul has been virtually unbeatable. Add to this the Kerala Blasters’ finishing woes and things get more difficult but James was un-fazed, “If you look at the game against Delhi the keeper made a couple of decent saves. At the moment we are playing well and things will turn around. We have changed stuff in training, we are trying to obviously encourage our players to score goals. But if the goalkeeper is making saves then obviously it’s not my fault.” Scottish midfielder Stephen Pearson was impressive in the last game and he was the one pulling strings in the midfield. His strength, pace and ability to make interceptions again makes him the key player in the match. Both James and Mumbai City FC manager Peter Reid had a word of praise for the midfielder in the pre-match conference. While Reid said he liked Pearson’s playing style, James said that he was delighted with the midfielder’s performances. The last time these two teams met in Mumbai, it was a competitive affair and it took a moment of brilliance from Nicolas Anelka - who scored off a brilliant free-kick - that won the hosts the match. “It was a great free-kick that won us the game in Mumbai and that was fairly close. Even with the results lately I know it will be difficult. I know the David (James) and Trevor (Morgan) very well and a few other players. I know they are strong and well orgnanised and tomorrow’s game will be one of the most difficult,” said head coach Peter Reid during the pre-match conference. Mumbai have tightened up their defense but just like Kerala Blasters, they too have problems with their finishing. They have scored just one goal from open play in the last three matches. And this worries manager Peter Reid. “It concerns me. There is a concern when we are not putting away the chances. That is the nature of football. With the games coming thick and fast it’s something that we are working on in training and we will continue to work on it, we do need to improve on that final ball when we are attacking and to be honest, the final ball hasn’t been good enough.” Reid said that Andre Moritz might be struggling to be fit for tomorrow and this might be a blow to their attacking unit as the Brazilian midfielder was a key link-up between the midfield and the attack. So there will be that extra pressure on Anelka to deliver. But Reid’s side will be looking to exploit Blasters’ deficiencies in defending set-pieces and dead ball situations. The Blasters have let in five goals from dead ball situations. With Kerala Blasters desperately looking for a home win, Mumbai City Fc aiming for their first away win and the expectation of a full house with co-owner Sachin Tendulkar attending the match, we can expect a cracker.