Kerela Blasters Become First Finalist
Kerela FC became the first team to qualify for the finals by beating Chennayin FC. 3 red cards, a controversial penalty, an embarrassing own goal and a late winner, this match had it all. By scoring a last minute goal,Kerela won the semi-final against Chennayin by a 4-3 margin. Kerela Blasters lost the second leg 3-1 but got the goal to qualify for the finals.
Mikael Silvestre heads the ball to give Chennaiyin the lead
The Chennaiyin’s had huge pressure on them as they were already trailing a 3 goal lead. The first half was packed with action and Kerela played counter attacking football and sent their men forward whenever they got a chance. Kerela came close to finishing the game early in the 8th minute when Michael Chopra’s header was cleared off the line by HarmanjotKhabra.
Kerela kept the counter attack tactic going and came close to scoring multiple times with Chopra and Iain Hume showing some neat passing and creating a chance on a breakaway, but goalkeeper Shilton Paul rushed towards the ball and stopped the attack. Then came a ray of hope for Chennai when Jamie McAllister, the Kerela defender, who was already booked in the 8th minute for time wastage, got a second yellow for a sliding tackle on Mendy in the 28th minute.
both the captains greeting each other before the match
The man advantage sparked up the Chennaiyin players for whom winning the match now seemed like a possibility. Their hopes became stronger just before half time when Marco Materazzi curled a freekick in the box and Mikaël Silvestre headed the ball into the net.
The second half started with Chennaiyin being more aggressive.Chennaiyin hopes rose even higher when Maurice was pulled down in the box by SandeshJhingan. Marco Materazzi stepped up to take the penalty kick and placed it beautifully in the bottom corner. The Italian player went on to celebrate but celebrations ended soon as his goal was cancelled due to Chennai players running into the box before the spot-kick was taken. The Italian missed the second attempt and shot it wide off the post.
Everyone engrossed in watching the game.
The Chennai side brought on their marquee player and the league’s top scorer Elano, to help them to get the goals needed. Their attacks kept getting stronger but Kerela showed no weakness until suddenly Jhingan helped them get their second goal. Bruno Pelissari played a long ball into the Kerela half and Jhingan ran towards the ball and chested it towards the keeper from the edge of the box only to find out that keeper Nandy was off his line and was running to get the ball himself. The manager seemed to blame Nandy for this goal and he was substituted shortly after conceding this embarrassing goal and Luis Baretto made his debut in the high pressured Semi Final.
Stephen Pearson runs to celebrate his goal after scoring the winner for Kerala.
The game got heated in the final minutes of the match as Chennai was In search for the final goal that would level the aggregate and Kerela were trying to find the goal the would seal their place in the final. The match was in the dying minutes when suddenly Mendy made a marvelous run into the box and crossed the ball over the keeper and JejeLalpekhlua ran towards the ball and chested it into the net.
Marco Materazzi takes a penalty.
Thus, the semi-final went into extra time but the match was far from over. Marco Materazzi was sent off shortly after the start of extra time getting 2 yellow cards in 2 minutes. That played a huge role in the game as both the teams were now down to 10 men. The Chennai side were attacking less and less and Kerela kept going strong. Both the teams needed only one goal to win and the winning goal was taken by the Kerelamidfielder Stephen Pearson, whose persistent run over the Chennai defense got him a clear shot at goal despite being blocked by 3 Chennai defenders. Stephen Pearson took a perfect touch on the ball while stopping the Chennai defense, and shot the ball in the bottom corner on the 117th minute and the crowd went wild.
The final goal sent the team in the final and now David James side will await the clash between Goa and Kolkata to see who he faces in the final.
