Ivan Vukomanovic’s side remained winless in the 2021/22 Indian Super League following their 0-0 draw against Khalid Jamil’s NorthEast United. The Blasters were guilty of missing some gilt-edged chances, while on the flip side, the Highlanders failed to register a single shot on target.
NEUFC’s Khassa Camara and Hernan registered early shots at Kerala’s goal, albeit both the efforts sailed some way over the crossbar. On the other end of the pitch, debutant Vincy Barretto was a livewire, chasing down long balls from his defenders but to no avail.
The best chance of the first half fell to Blasters’ Jorge Pereyra Diaz. Adrian Luna’s aggressive pressing forced Provat Lakra into making a mistake; the NEUFC defender passed the ball back towards his goal, unaware of Pereyra Diaz blocking the passing angle. The forward intercepted Lakra’s pass, left Patrick Flotmann on the floor by taking an extra touch, but shot wide of the post.
Missed the #NEUKBFC action? Here’s a quick recap on what was an evenly contested match between @NEUtdFC and @KeralaBlasters! ⏮💥#ISLRecap #HeroISL #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/U9F6JWaRGo
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) November 25, 2021
An equally dreadful miss by Sahal Abdul Samad early in the second half kept the scores level, much to the dismay of Vukomanovic. After Barretto had won the ball inside his half, he knocked it past an oncoming defender, ran on to the opposition goal, and squared it for Samad in space. However, with just the goalkeeper in his way and the goal gaping beyond, Samad somehow failed to hit the target.
With the tie still locked in a stalemate, Vukomanovic sent on substitutes Nishu Kumar and Alvaro Vazquez to make something happen. The pair nearly combined to great effect in the 83rd minute, with Kumar supplying Vazquez with a cross for a header from inside the box, which was saved acrobatically by Subhasish Chowdhury in the NEUFC goal.
Unable to break the deadlock, the two teams had to settle for a point each – their first on the board. Both remain winless after two games played in the 2021/22 ISL season.
