This was a night when the Kerala Blasters, the dwarf of the Hero Indian Super League with the poorest scoring record, turned into a giant. In front of nearly 61,000 roaring fans, the Blasters thrashed league topper Chennaiyin FC 3-0 in the first-leg semifinal at the Nehru Stadium here on Saturday night.
Two quick goals, which came in a two-minute spell just before the half-hour mark through an inspired right winger Ishfaq Ahmed and striker Iain Hume, virtually killed the game which had looked an even contest till then.
And then, just when the referee was about to bring the shutters down, the Kerala-born substitute Sushanth Mathew, who had come in just ten minutes earlier, made it a memorable day for the host with a lovely long-ranger.
The Blasters had never enjoyed a night like this in the ISL and with its back four, despite being without its injured star Cedric Hengbart, and goalkeeper Sandip Nandy doing a brilliant job, the home side walked away a happy winner.
With the return of the league’s top scorer Elano Blumer and the arrival of the Alessandro Nesta, Chennaiyin looked strong on paper. But it was the home side which looked convincing early, finding a nice road on the left to move up smartly.
After Hume had done the early running, Stephen Pearson sent a good cross into the box, but there was none to receive it. Michael Chopra sent another promising pass from the left but Hume could not put a proper head to it.
At the other end, Chennai’s French defender Bernard Mendy went on a hot run and fed Jeje and a little later, Balwant sent a measured pass from the left to Jeje but the forward’s diving header was taken nicely by custodian Nandy.
Even Elano Blumer, a very dangerous man with set pieces, got a couple of freekicks but he appeared to have lost his famed touch tonight, slamming one straight to the wall and then messing up another.
Despite all the big names around him, it was Ishfaq Ahmed who turned out to be the day’s hero.
Ahmed gave the Blasters the lead with a well-placed shot from the right off a Victor Forcada pass. Excited with his first goal of the tournament, the right winger took off his shirt in celebration and earned a yellow card for that.
He was an inspired man after that. Stephen Pearson, on the left, sent a nice cross to Ahmed and as the midfielder tried to relay it, the Chennai defence, which had looked very shaky in its last few games, appeared confused.
Denson Devdas tried to clear the danger but the ball just deflected off the midfielder and went straight to Hume who slammed it home in a jiffy. The team’s co-owner Sachin Tendulkar celebrated it with Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.
Shocked by the turn of things, Chennai came up with a series of attacks. A Micheal Silvestre tap, off an Elano Blumer corner, and efforts by Balwant and Jeje all were handled smartly by Nandy.
A distraught Chennaiyin brought in Bruno Pelisseri for Elano Blumer in the 51st minute in the hope that it would turn things around. Chennai looked vibrant after this but with the home defenders Nirmal Chettri, Gurwinder Singh, Colin Falvey and James McAllister standing firm, nothing came of it.
Instead, it was Blasters which came up with a long-range stunner from Sushanth Mathew, who had looked mostly off-colour in previous games, in the dying minutes of the match.
The two teams will play the second leg of the semifinal in Chennai on Tuesday.
The result (semifinal): Kerala Blasters 3 (Ishfaq Ahmed 27, Iain Hume 29, Sushanth Mathew 90 + 3) bt Chennaiyin FC 0.
