Sabeeth, Orji strike as Kerala Blasters fight back to register first ISL win

Kerala Blasters continued their upward curve after coming from behind to record their first victory in the Indian Super League as they beat FC Pune City 2-1 at the Balewadi Stadium. It was the home team that made the brighter start, with David Trezeguet brilliantly finishing past David James in the 15th minute with a stretched first-time shot after Dutch debutante John Goossens took a quick freekick from the left. [caption id=“attachment_1780631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  CS Sabeeth of Kerala Blasters FC celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal against Pune City. Sportzpics[/caption] But CS Sabeeth and 2nd half substitute Penn Orji struck in the 41st and 65th minute to win an evenly-matched contest that saw some brilliant defending from both sides. Pune kept their shape brilliantly throughout the first 45 minutes — with their tight back-line, led by the inspirational Bruno Cirillo, thwarting every Kerala attack with astute clearances and well read interceptions. Kerala mainly attacked from the flanks — using their wingbacks to push forward as Mehtab Hossain dropped deep. But Anupam Sarkar and Dharmaraj Ravanan — both impressive in the win against FC Goa too — didn’t really allow any of the forays to turn into real chances for the visitors. However, a tactical tweak at half-time allowed Ian Hume to play from the right and he ran riot in the second half — setting up the 2nd goal for Orji with a fine cutback and creating numerous other chances for his team which went begging. The tireless No 10, who has been involved in almost every goal for Kerala so far, surged forward after a rare lapse of concentration from Pune’s midfield, to find young Sabeeth’s run. The striker collected the ball well and pulled the trigger towards the far post, only to see Bruno Cirillo’s foot deflect it away for a corner. Cirillo screamed in exhilaration at stopping a certain goal — only to see Sabeeth deflect a Cedric Hengbart header into the net before wheeling away in celebration. A goal with just a few minutes for the halftime whistle was just what a lifeless match needed. Pune tried to hit back immediately with a counter attack from the right — but Ashutosh Mehta chose to take a curling shot from outside the box — much to the frustration of Goossens, who had made a run inside the box. Pune should have ideally taken the lead as soon as the 13th minute after a lovely exchange between Kostas Katsouranis and Trezeguet resulted in the former going through one-on-one against James before meekly shooting it into David James’ grateful gloves. Marquee player Trezeguet found the net a couple of minutes after that chance — but as Kerala came into the match and pressed high up the pitch, the French World cup winner was left without much service up front. In fact, it was Cirillo’s contribution that kept Pune in the match — he was almost always in the right place at the right time as the away team poured forward in numbers in search for a more telling scoreline than 2-1. The former Inter Milan, Reggina and Levante player was simply unbeatable on the day — throwing his body to make numerous blocks and getting first to every aerial ball that Kerala punted towards goal. Pune manager Franco Colomba will be thinking whether the result would have been in his team’s favour had Cirillo been marking Hengbart for the corner. Pune were forced to substitute goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi after he was injured — but second choice Arindam Bhattacharya did quite well as Kerala tested him within seconds of the change. Colomba also threw on Ivan Bolado in a bid to get the equaliser — and Pune almost got it, with a couple of brilliant long balls towards Trezeguet just getting cut out at the last moment. To Kerala’s credit, the team is now unbeaten in two games — four points out of six, a valuable return for a team which, after its two defeats, looked like it would stutter all season.