Here are the games this week, with their reports below (latest match first):
Apr 23: Kerala Blasters FC vs Odisha FC (7:30pm)
Apr 24: NorthEast United FC vs FC Goa (7:30pm)
Apr 25: Bengaluru FC vs Mumbai City FC (5pm), Jamshedpur FC vs Chennaiyin FC (7:30pm)
Apr 26: SC Delhi vs Mohammedan SC (7:30pm)
Apr 28: East Bengal FC vs Odisha FC (7:30pm)
Bengaluru FC 0-0 Mumbai City FC
Mumbai City FC lost further ground on leaders Mohun Bagan after a goalless draw against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday evening. This result means that Mumbai are now a point behind Bagan, having played a game more than the Kolkata club.
The biggest chance of the evening came early in the second half when Lallianzuala Chhangte ran through on goal, and went around Gurpreet Singh Sandhu but saw the angle become too tight on him before he put his finish into the side-netting.
The only other really presentable opportunity fell to Akash Mishra, after a set-piece fell to him at the far-post, but he couldn’t get any power on his right-footed finish, which nestled into Gurpreet’s gloves.
Bengaluru had more possession, but couldn’t break Mumbai down, and finished the game without a single shot on target. They remain on 16 points after 10 games, three behind Mumbai City FC.
It has been a poor season at home for Bengaluru, who have now finished their Kanteerava commitments for the season with just one win from six games, alongwith three draws and two losses.
NorthEast United 0 – 2 FC Goa
(Dejan Drazic 20′, Mohammed Yasir 90′ + 3′)
FC Goa rose to second on the ISL table, a point behind Mohun Bagan and a point below Mumbai City (both of whom have a game in hand) with a comfortable 2-0 win over strugglers NorthEast United.
The opener came after Goa exploited NEUFC’s highline with Mohammed Nemil, sparkling in the #10 role, hooking a long ball in behind that Dejan Drazic ran onto and under extreme pressure finished well with an early take. Goa continued to dominate, holding NEUFC at bay comfortably, before Mohammed Yasir added an exclamation point to the performance with a sumptuous finish, curling one into the far top corner off the bar from just inside the box.
Kerala Blasters 2 – 1 Odisha FC
(Víctor Bertomeu 12′, Matías Hernández 90′ + 4′; Rahim Ali 27′)
Kerala Blasters earned their third win of the season with a dramatic injury-time winner over Odisha FC, as Matías Hernández scored from a corner in a 2-1 win. The result pushed the Blasters up to ninth in the table with 11 points, while Odisha remained second-from-bottom.
Kerala Blasters didn’t take long to open the scoring, with Víctor Bertomeu finding the net in the twelfth minute. Kévin Yoke jinked his way towards goal and took a shot from range, which took a deflection and looped perfectly into Bertomeu in space the box. The Blasters’ striker took a touch and then calmly slotted it past Amrinder Singh to open the scoring. The hosts looked in perfect control, but spurned a few promising positions and were made to pay in the 27th minute as Odisha equalized. Puitea spied Rahim Ali making a clever run into space on the right side of the box and threaded him through, with the Odisha striker sidefooting a powerful low drive into the bottom corner without breaking stride to make it 1-1.
Franchu threatened for the Blasters as the half went on, with a shot from range, and a low cross that was begging to be turned in, but nothing came of it as both sides went into the break on level terms.
The second half saw both sides threaten, but fail to create clear-cut chances for a majority of the second period. Odisha ought to have scored from a set-piece in the 87th minute, as a headed layoff saw the ball bounce two yards in front of goal, but an acrobatic overhead clearance from Aiban saw the Blasters defender prevent Hitesh Sharma from scoring. That proved to be worth its weight in gold as the Blasters scored the winner in injury time. Ebindas Yesudasan sent in a teasing corner from the left, as Amrinder missed the flight of the ball and substitute Hernández headed into an empty net to make it 2-1 for the hosts. There was more drama in store as Odisha’s defence failed to play to the whistle and waited for an offside, but Kévin Yoke ran through and scored, only for the referee to overturn it. Vanlalzuidika Chhakchhuak then almost nicked a goal for Odisha at the death, but the Blasters sealed a fortunate victory.
