Chennai, Jan 30 (IANS) Jesus Jimenez, Korou Singh, and Kwame Peprah scored a goal each as Kerala Blasters FC defeated Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in a key clash of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday night.
At 18 years and 58 days, Korou Singh entered the ISL history books as the second-youngest goal-scorer in the competition – only behind Komal Thatal who was 18 years and 43 days when he scored against Bengaluru FC in October 2018.
Apart from his heroics, this was also the first time the Kerala Blasters FC registered an away win against Chennaiyin FC in the competition.
The visitors took an early lead courtesy of goals from Jesus Jimenez and Korou. Later, Kwame Peprah scored the third in the second half to secure their seventh win of the ongoing season. Vincy Barretto’s late goal for the hosts remained the lone consolation for Chennaiyin.
Kerala Blasters were off the blocks quickly as they took the lead in the third minute of the match courtesy of an impeccable goal from Jimenez. It started with Korou driving the ball forward into the final third before he got dispossessed. But the Chennaiyin FC backline didn’t clear their lines and Jimenez latched onto the stray ball and slotted it past Mohammed Nawaz in goal.
Ten minutes later, Jimenez could have doubled the lead when he controlled Sachin Suresh’s long ball with ease. The Spaniard made a decisive run behind the Chennaiyin FC defence and was through on goal. However, a timely save from Nawaz kept the hosts in the game.
After their initial period, Chennaiyin FC had moments with Ryan Edwards and Irfan Yadwad having opportunities to score from Connor Shields’ delivery from set-pieces. However, things took a complicated turn for the Marina Machans as Wilmar Jordan Gil was handed the marching orders after his skirmish with Milos Drincic.
With a goal and a man down, Chennaiyin FC were in a struggling phase. Later, Owen Coyle was brought on Mandar Rao Dessai replacing the injured Landinliana Renthlei.
Despite a troublesome first half, Lukas Brambilla had the best opportunity to level the scores before the break. However, the Brazilian’s effort was wayward. While Chennaiyin FC kept squandering their chances, Kerala Blasters FC doubled their lead at the stroke of half-time with Korou netting, which also made him Kerala Blasters FC’s youngest goal-scorer in the competition.
The move began with Kwame Peprah holding the ball up before releasing it to Adrian Luna. The Uruguayan immediately played it to Korou in space on the right and the 20-year-old’s strike took a deflection before beating Nawaz on the far post.
Chennaiyin FC were courageous in the initial exchanges of the second half as they threw bodies forward in search of a goal. Shields once again came close to scoring after Lalrinliana Hnamte found him in space in the final third. However, his subsequent effort flew over the target.
Just two minutes later, Kerala Blasters FC capitalised on the space in Chennaiyin FC’s defense with a fastbreak led by Luna. The Uruguayan found Peprah in space with a low cross into the box from the left flank. The Ghanaian smartly toe-poked it past Nawaz to make it 3-0 for the visitors in the 56th minute. With the third goal conceded, Coyle decided to mix things up as he turned to Daniel Chima Chukwu, Vincy Barretto, and Elsinho replacing Brambilla, Farukh Chaudhury, and Edwards respectively.
The visitors were brilliant in managing the game as they held possession with authority and dictated the play as the game progressed. Later, TG Purushothaman also introduced Noah Sadaoui and the Moroccan did leave an impact in his short spell allowing the team to control the possession in the final quarter of the match.
However, they fumbled the clean sheet when Vincy found the back of the net in added time following a smart cross delivered by Irfan. Despite a flamboyant finish from the hosts, the Kerala Blasters FC held their nerves and bagged their triumph, placing them eighth in the table with 24 points now.
Chennaiyin FC will next face East Bengal FC on February 8, while Kerala Blasters FC will play Mohun Bagan Super Giant on February 15.
–IANS
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