Kerala Blasters began their ISL-X campaign with a 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Thursday.
Blasters skipper Adrian Luna was at the centre of both the strikes, taking the corner for the first one and netting the other to help his side secure three points after a hard-fought first half saw both teams head into the tunnel without troubling the scorers.
Blasters emerged as a reinvigorated unit in the second half as they capitalised on a corner conceded by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to draw the first blood.
Luna sent in a curling kick that Bengaluru’s Dutch midfielder Keziah Veendrop nodded inside the net to hand the home team the crucial lead in the contest in the 52nd minute.
Blasters grew in confidence after that goal with Luna forcing a mistake off Sandhu in the 69th minute. The Bengaluru captain ended up touching the ball too heavily, giving Kerala’s skipper an empty net to shoot into and bag the second strike.
