Kerala Blasters were held to a 1-1 draw by Jamshedpur FC at home to lose out on a place in the play-offs in the Indian Super League match in Kochi on Saturday.
Korou Singh scored a brilliant goal in the 35th minute to put the Blasters ahead before Milos Drincic's own goal in the 86th minute brought Jamshedpur FC back into the game.
With this draw, Kerala Blasters are out of the play-offs contention for this season as they can only reach a maximum of 31 points, which is a point less than the sixth-placed NorthEast United FC (32).
Both the teams started slowly and gradually became assured in possession as the match progressed. Given that it was a must-win game for the Kerala Blasters, they showed more urgency than their counterparts, who had already qualified for the play-offs.
In the 16th minute, Khalid Jamil was forced to turn to Nikhil Barla replacing Shubham Sarangi due to an injury. In the meantime, the hosts started controlling the game and had the lion's share of possession.
In the 23rd minute, Adrian Luna made a surging run down the middle before unleashing Kwame Peprah on the left flank. The Ghanaian had space to work with, but Jamshedpur FC defenders recovered quickly to thwart the danger.
Kerala Blasters FC eventually broke the deadlock in the 35th
The stray ball was picked up by Korou, who came up with a great header to leave Stephen Eze high and dry in midfield. The youngster turned back in a jiffy, controlled his header, and ran past three defenders before beating Albino from a tight angle with a vicious effort.
Both teams made a solitary change at the start of the second half, with Danish Farooq taking Yoihenba Meetei's place for the home side and Mobashir Rehman coming in for Sourav Das for Jamshedpur FC.
Unlike the first half, the second one saw a fiery start with Eze rising the highest from a corner and testing Nora Fernandes in goal for the Blasters. The custodian did well to keep out the danger.
With the visitors not creating enough chances to get back into the game, Khalid decided to introduce Rei Tachikawa in midfield in the 59th minute at the cost of Lazar Cirkovic.
Things took a drastic turn in the 86th minute when Sreekuttan got hold of a stray ball on the right wing. The youngster delivered a decent cross into the box but it ricocheted off Milos Drincic and nestled into his own net, awarding the equaliser to Jamshedpur FC.
With their season on the line, Kerala Blasters threw bodies forward in search of the winner but Jamshedpur FC managed the game well to register a hard-fought draw away from home.
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