ISL: Late Alberto strike helps Mohun Bagan beat Kerala Blasters 3-2

Kolkata: Mohun Bagan Super Giant beat Kerala Blasters 3-2 to register their fifth consecutive home win and cement their top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) points table here on Saturday.

Despite holding 56.5 per cent of the possession, the Mariners required two late goals to secure all three points from this fixture.

The Mariners now have 26 points from 11 matches with the help of eight victories and two draws to be at the top of table.

Kerala Blasters FC opened the game on an assertive note, with their frontline duo of Noah Sadaoui and Jesus Jimenez teasing the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence within the first five minutes.

Whilst Noah tried to strike home from outside of the box in the second minute, Jimenez made an attempt at goal from inside the box with his left foot, which was saved by Vishal Kaith in the fourth minute.

That didn't deter Kerala Blasters from discovering options upfront, as their entire midfield worked cohesively to knock doors at the Mariners' backline. Pritam Kotal sprinted ahead with quick pace and curled in a cross for Danish Farooq inside the box, but the latter's shot landed off target past the right post.

Subhasish Bose joined in the attacking moves for the hosts, teaming up with Liston Colaco in the 18th minute, who laid up an accurate pass for the defender on the left side of the 18-yard box. Bose had a good opportunity to score in his 100th ISL appearance for the Mariners, but his shot lacked the pace to find its way past Sachin Suresh.

The home side's moment of reckoning came in the 33rd minute though, as Asish Rai unleashed a powerful shot from distance that was stopped by Sachin, but the rebound fell in Jamie Maclaren's path, who comfortably slotted it into the bottom left corner to help them secure the first goal of the match.

Increasingly, Kerala Blasters were finding it difficult to construct well-coordinated attacking moves. Jimenez took matters in his own hands in the 51st minute, and Adrian Luna simultaneously helped him by pressing high on the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence, helping the visitors recover possession.

Jimenez didn't take too much time on the ball, hammering it into the bottom left corner from the outside of the 18-yard box upon taking a quick, deft touch and equalising the scores.

Sadaoui sprung into action following this move, hoping to get another goal in the favour of the Kochi-based team by riding the momentum in their favour.

In the following 15-odd minutes, he hit the target multiple times, most notably in the 67th minute from outside of the box. Despite the distance, his shot was well directed into the bottom right corner, but kept at bay by Kaith.

Kerala Blasters were successful in their effort of breaching past the Mariners’ defence in the 77th minute. They pushed up numbers during a set piece and Milos Drincic was placed perfectly to drill the ball into the high centre of the goal in a crowded Mohun Bagan Super Giant box to get the visitors a late advantage.

That opened the floodgates for an onslaught from the Mariners, as Jason Cummings came off the bench in the 80th minute. His partnership with Dimitrios Petratos has been lethal upfront and Saturday was no different, with the latter squaring up a pass for Cummings deep inside the box that was netted into the bottom left corner by the striker to bring the scores back to level terms in the 86th minute.

The Mariners kept pushing forward, earning free-kicks and corners alike. In the added time of the second half, Kerala Blasters defence was unable to clear their lines after a corner and Alberto Rodriguez, placed outside the 18-yard area, trusted his instincts to launch a shot into the bottom left corner to bag their third goal of the night, and notch all three points for the home side.