Kerala Blasters 1 (Diamantakos Dimitrios 70’)
lost To
NorthEast United FC 4 (Parthib Sundar Gogoi 2’, Mohammed Ali Bemamaer 68’, Redeem Tlang 75’, Jithin MS 80’)

AIFF Media Team

BHUBANESWAR: NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) ended their Kalinga Cup campaign on a high as they thrashed Kerala Blasters 4-1 in a Group B match at the Kalinga Stadium Main Pitch in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, January 20, 2024.

For NEUFC, Parthib Sundar Gogoi, Mohammed Ali Bemamaer, Redeem Tlang and Jithin MS were the scorers. Diamantakos Dimitrios reduced the margin for Kerala Blasters.

With Jamshedpur FC having already qualified for the semi-finals from this group, the match was inconsequential for both teams. Understandably, then, the ISL sides were playing for bragging rights and NEUFC stamped their authority in the game convincingly.

The win helped NEUFC finish second in their group behind Jamshedpur FC with six points from three matches. Kerala Blasters finished third.

NEUFC took the lead even before Kerala Blasters could settle into the match. In the second minute of the match, Gogoi beat his marker with pace and slotted the ball past Kerala goalkeeper easily.

Kerala Blasters tried to wage a fightback and came close to scoring at the stroke of halftime, but Hamza Regragui’s shot was saved by an onrushing NEUFC goalkeeper Sachin Suresh.

NEUFC extended their lead in the 68th minute when Bemmamaer’s low free-kick found the back of the net after a wicked deflection.

The Blasters finally scored when Diamantakos made a darting run to go past the NEUFC defenders and scored with a brilliant left-footed shot. Blasters’ hopes of finding the equaliser was quickly extinguished when NEUFC scored their third goal. Tlang’s thunderous strike nestled into the net after a Blasters defender failed to clear a corner effectively.

NEUFC piled on more misery on Blasters when Jithin MS raced past a Blasters defender and the onrushing goalkeeper to score a fine goal.