A superb individual effort from Dimitrios Diamantakos was enough for the Kerala Blaster to beat Mohun Bagan SG 1-0 at the Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata.
The Blaster started the game the better of the two sides with their high pressing and swift interchanging wingers and forwards causing all sorts of bother for the Bagan backline and midfield. The goal, though, came out of nothing. Kwame Peprah had a shot that was blocked by Sumit Rathi. The ball bounced out to Diamantakos who took it under his control before swerving past Deepak Tangri and then making a quick change in direction to zip through a small gap between Hector Yuste and Asish Rai. Once through, he larruped a powerful shot into the roof of the net past a hapless Vishal Kaith.
It was the sole moment of calm finishing we saw all game, and that made all the difference.
Bagan, looking terribly uncoordinated in the first half looked much better in the second - atleast with their intent if not their execution. With Kiyan Nassiri and Hugo Boumous seeing more of the ball down the wings they created more chances - all 13 of the shots they had at goal came in the second forty-five. Of the 13, they only forced a save off Sachin Suresh with one, and that when Jason Cummings scrambled a hopeful toe-poke towards goal at the near post from a couple of yards out.
Despite Bagan's clear dominance of the ball in that second half, the Blasters had quite a few chances to finish the match off including a number of spurned counters. The best two where when Rahul KP hit the ball straight at Kaith in a one-on-one while Daisuke Sakai (a late sub) smashed a shot at Kaith from about seven yards out. (Diamantakos too had been guilty of missing a one-on-one early on in the game, before the goal - smashing the ball onto the crossbar after a defensive mix up left him with just Kaith to beat).
Defensively, Sachin was rarely troubled - his command of the box when an aerial ball was flung in complimenting the heading abilities of Milos Drincic and Marko Leskovic. This was in large part due to the lack of cohesion amongst the attacking players who were kept on their toes with different formation changes at regular intervals in the second half.
The win for Blasters sees them climb to the top of the league, though Goa have a chance to take the lead back when they face NorthEast United in two days time on December 29 in Guwahati. Meanwhile, this was Bagan's third straight loss as they continue to struggle with a sudden dip of form, multiple injuries and a few suspensions.
You can relive all the action with our minute-by-minute commentary right here: (Please wait a few seconds for the blog to load. Please click here if it doesn't.):