Kerala Blasters FC Play Out Goalless Draw with Jamshedpur FC

KOCHI:
Kerala Blasters FC played out their second goalless draw as Jamshedpur FC frustrated the home side in a Hero Indian Super League (ISL) game here today.
The Blasters were playing their second game at home but failed to take an advantage. Their opening match against ATK had also ended in a 0-0 draw. Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov lasted the full 90 minutes again and had an acrobatic effort go waste at the near post but the best chance for the Blasters fell to CK Vineeth after Canadian Iain Hume dug out a cross to pick him from the right wing.
Vineeth’s heading opportunity went abegging as did so many other half chances, which didn’t materialise due to the lack of a quality final ball in the attacking third. The Blasters started the match in typical fashion with a quick tempo and feeding off the energy of the crowd, but Jamshedpur did well to weather the initial storm and countered a few times.
Their best effort though was palmed away not once but twice in quick succession by Paul Rachubka. It all started with Memo’s stinging effort from a free kick, and once that was seen away by a diving Rachubka, he got back up and kept the rebound effort from Jerry Mawihmingthanga out as well.
Rachubka was alert in added time as well and Jamshedpur finished the game as a stronger team. Trindad Goncalves’s brilliant cross found Kervens Belfort, but his header was incredibly saved by the 36-year- old goalkeeper.
The first half had its fair share of entertainment with Blasters’ Courage Pekuson’s shot narrowly missing the target. In a way, it was a roundup of the match itself, which will be remembered more for the goalkeeping heroics of Rachubka than the missed efforts from all the attackers on the pitch.