The much-hyped opening clash of the Hero ISL turned out to be a damp squib as ATK and Kerala Blasters played out a goalless draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Friday.
A rusty Kerala Blasters was lucky to earn a point from the contest as ATK was clearly the superior side. There was few thrills fromthe home side in the mundane contest for the fans and they gave vent to their feelings by booing Kerala Blasters in the second half.
ATK enjoyed more possession and had more look at the rival goal. But the Kolkatans were unlucky too as an effort from Jose Branco in the 69th minute ricochetted off the far post with the Blasters goalkeeper Paul Rachubka out of position and beaten. The best chance for Kerala Blasters came in the opening minute of the extra time in the second half when Berbatov’s header off a corner was smartly saved by Debjit Majumder.
Kerala Blasters coach Rene Meulensteen’s pre-match promise of playing attacking football to please the supporters fell flat as his side came up with a lack-lustre show. Despite adopting an attacking format, Blasters lacked penetration in the first half and played second fiddle to its rival which wrested control in the midfield quite early.
Apart from a long ranger from Milan Singh which missed the mark narrowly in the fourth minute, Blasters failed to create any worthwhile chance in the first half. Star striker Dimitar Berbatov remained anonymous on the field largely due to the fact that his midfielders failed to feed him. Milan Singh and Ghanian Courgae Pekuson showed flashes of brilliance but a combined effort from the team was missing.
On the other hand, the Kolkatans struck rhythm fairly early. There was nice build-ups through both flanks from the visitor to put pressure on Blasters half.
Keegan Pereira roamed freely into the box from the right to whip in crosses while Jose Branco made his presence felt with clever distribution. The Blaster’s goal came under pressure in the 13th minute when Branco sent Finnish striker Njazi Kuqi clear but the shot was stopped by Rachbuka. The Kolkatans managed to sneak the ball into the rival box on on a couple of occasions but Rachbuka stood firm.
The result: Kerala Blasters 0 drew with ATK 0.
