2017–18 Kerala Blasters FC season

Kerala Blasters began their preparations for the 2017–18 season by bringing in former Manchester United assistant coach René Meulensteen as the club's new head coach.[3] The signing of Meulensteen came only two days after former head coach Steve Coppell announced that he would be leaving the club.[4] A couple of weeks later, on 23 July 2017, the Kerala Blasters participated in the 2017–18 ISL Players Draft. Since the club had already retained the services of Sandesh Jhingan, C.K. Vineeth, and Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, the Blasters would enter the draft in round three.[5] For their first draft pick, the Kerala Blasters selected defender Rino Anto. Anto was already part of the Kerala Blasters the previous season, on loan from Bengaluru.[6] The club also selected India internationals, Milan Singh, Arata Izumi, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, and Jackichand Singh. The club also selected defenders Lalruatthara and Lalthakima, both of whom won the I-League in 2016–17 with Aizawl.[6]

The next day, on 24 July, the Kerala Blasters announced their first foreign signing of the season, Canadian international and former Kerala Blasters player, Iain Hume.[7] Following the signing of Hume, the club made headlines when they signed former Manchester United defender Wes Brown on 15 August 2017, and another former Manchester United player, Dimitar Berbatov, on 24 August.[8][9] "In terms of selection of players, we were looking at him for quite sometime," said Varun Tripuraneni, the Kerala Blasters CEO, "After Rene Meulensteen came on board, it became easier to get the deal done. Berbatov has been with Rene in Manchester United, so they share a comfort level and chemistry".[9]

Just a few days prior to the start of the season, Meulensteen named Jhingan as his club captain for the season.[10]

Signings

Indian draft Round Position Player 1 No pick 2 3 DF Rino Anto 4 DF Lalruatthara 5 MF Milan Singh 6 MF Arata Izumi 7 GK Subhasish Roy Chowdhury 8 MF Jackichand Singh 9 MF Siam Hanghal 10 DF Lalthakima 11 DF Pritam Kumar Singh 12 DF Samuel Shadap 13 DF Loken Meitei 14 FW Karan Sawhney 15 MF Ajith Sivan

Other signings Position Player Last club Date Ref FW Iain Hume Extremadura 24 July 2017 [7] DF Courage Pekuson FC Koper 10 August 2017 [11] DF Nemanja Lakić-Pešić Kapfenberger SV 11 August 2017 [12] DF Wes Brown Blackburn Rovers 15 August 2017 [8] GK Paul Rachubka Bury 19 August 2017 [13] FW Mark Sifneos RKC Waalwijk 20 August 2017 [14] FW Dimitar Berbatov PAOK 23 August 2017 [9] GK Sandip Nandy Southern Samity 31 August 2017 [15] DF Jishnu Balakrishnan Free Agent 6 September 2017 [16] MF Sahal Abdul Samad Free Agent 6 September 2017 [16] MF Kizito Keziron Leopards 3 January 2018 [17] FW Guðjón Baldvinsson Stjarnan (loan) 26 January 2018 [18] MF Pulga Nacional Potosí 1 February 2018 [19] Left Club Midseason FW Mark Sifneos Released 23 January 2018 [20] MF Kizito Keziron Injury Release 1 February 2018 [21]

The 2017–18 season of the Indian Super League sees 10 teams play 18 matches during the regular season; two against each other team, with one match at each club's stadium. Three points are awarded for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams in the table qualify for the finals. The team in first will take on the team in fourth and the team in second will take on the team in third in two-legged ties. The winners of each tie will face off in the final at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 17 March 2018.[22]

The Kerala Blasters hosted ATK at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in a rematch of last season's final, on the opening day of the season. Despite the match being billed as a "high-voltage clash amid an electric atmosphere", the match ended in a 0–0 draw.[23][24] The same result would occur a week later in the Blasters' second match against the new entrants Jamshedpur.[25]

Following these two draws, René Meulensteen stressed how it important it was for the club to start scoring goals. "The most important goal to score in a season is the first one, because the moment you score the first one, it will bring confidence.”[26] The first match of December was at home against Mumbai City on 3 December. The Blasters scored their first goal of the season in the 14th minute when Mark Sifneos scored from a cross from the wing. However, in the 77th minute, Mumbai City found an equalizer through Balwant Singh and the match ended 1–1 - a third draw in a row at home.[27] After playing their first three matches of the season at home, the Kerala Blasters played their first away match of the season against Goa at the Fatorda Stadium on 9 December. A Mark Sifneos goal in the 7th minute saw the Blasters take an early lead before Manuel Lanzarote scored a brace for Goa to give the hosts a 2–1 lead. Jackichand Singh then scored an equalizer for Kerala to make it 2–2 before halftime. The second half would be different for the Kerala Blasters as they found themselves down 5–2 by the 54th minute. Coro, who had scored a hattrick the previous match for Goa against Bengaluru, grabbed another hattrick to succumb Kerala Blasters to their first defeat of the season.[28]

The club responded very well from the defeat, earning their first victory of the season in the next match on 15 December against NorthEast United. C.K. Vineeth, who returned from suspension, scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute from a header which came from a Rino Anto cross.[29] Seven days later, the club returned to the road in the Southern derby against Chennaiyin. Despite Rene Mihelič scoring for the hosts in the 89th minute, C.K. Vineeth managed to equalize for the Kerala Blasters only five minutes later in stoppage time to give the Blasters a point.[30]

The Kerala Blasters then ended the year with another 'Southern Derby" match against new expansion side Bengaluru at the Nehru Stadium. Meulensteen made several changes from the previous match against Chennaiyin, including dropping goalkeeper Paul Rachubka to the bench for Indian goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury. Samuel Shadap also started at right back as replacement for the injured Rino Anto. C.K. Vineeth, who had been on form in the lead up to this match, was also dropped with no reason given and replaced with Iain Hume.[31] During the match, the Blasters managed to hold Bengaluru at 0–0 going into halftime. However, in the 60th minute, Blasters captain Sandesh Jhingan handled the ball in the penalty box after a cross from Udanta Singh. Bengaluru's Sunil Chhetri converted the ensuing penalty to give the away side the lead.[32] The Kerala Blasters proceeded to try to find the equalizer but three minutes into stoppage time Miku found the net for Bengaluru to increase their lead and then he did it again only a minute later to make it 3–0. Despite the two late goals, Courage Pekuson managed to find time to grab a consolation goal for the Blasters in the 96th minute as they fell to their second defeat of the season.[33]

After the match, on 3 January 2018, it was announced that Meulensteen had been relieved of his duties as head coach of the club.[34] That same day, the Kerala Blasters announced that David James, the club's head coach during the 2014 season, would return to the club.[35] Also on that day, the club announced the signing of their eighth foreigner, midfielder Kizito Keziron from Leopards in Kenya.[17]

James' first match in charge of the Kerala Blasters was against second place Pune City on 4 January 2018. His tenure in charge did not start well as the club found themselves 1–0 down at halftime through a Marcelinho goal. However, during the second half of the match, the Blasters came alive with James bringing on new signing Kizito Keziron after the halftime interval and the Ugandan contributed to what would be the equalizer for the Kerala Blasters. He sent a through-ball over to Courage Pekuson who then squared the ball into the middle for Mark Sifneos to slot it home in the 73rd minute.[36] The match would go on to end 1–1.[36]

After the match against Pune City, the Kerala Blasters started a three match run away from home. Their first match occurred on 10 January 2018 against last placed Delhi Dynamos. Iain Hume opened the scoring for the Blasters in the 12th minute when he put in a squared ball from Courage Pekuson. Then, right before halftime, Delhi found an equalizer through fullback Pritam Kotal. Hume then scored his second of the night in the 78th minute before completing his hat-trick in the 83rd minute when he outmuscled and outpaced Delhi defender Rowilson Rodrigues and chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper. The match finished 3–1 to the Kerala Blasters.[37] The team then extended their winning run to two, after securing a 1–0 victory in their match away to Mumbai City on 14 January 2018. Iain Hume was once again the lone scorer for the Blasters as the Canadian found the net in the 23rd minute.[38]

Three days later, the Kerala Blasters played their final of three straight away matches against Jamshedpur. Paul Rachubka returned to the starting line-up while C.K. Vineeth also returned from injury. Despite the changes, the Kerala Blasters fell 2–1 to the new expansion side from Jharkhand. Jerry Mawihmingthanga opened the scoring for Jamshedpur in the very first minute when he converted what was a scuffed shot from teammate Ashim Biswas. Biswas then found the net himself 30 minutes later to extend Jamshedpur's lead. Mark Sifneos found a consolation goal for the Blasters three minutes into second half stoppage time but it was too late to save the match.[39]

The Kerala Blasters returned home with a match against Goa on 21 January. David James decided to go with only four foreigners on the pitch for Kerala and it proved a bad choice only seven minutes into the match as Coro found the net. However, 22 minutes later, C.K. Vineeth managed to find Kerala's equalizer after he exploited the space left by the Goan defenders in the middle. Despite that though, Goa once again took the lead in the 77th minute when Edu Bedia won the game for Goa, 2–1.[40]

On 27 January 2018, the Kerala Blasters took on bottom-placed Delhi Dynamos at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Coming into the match, the Blasters had released Dutch striker Mark Sifneos and signed former Iceland international Guðjón Baldvinsson as a replacement.[18] David James once again sent out a side that played less than the 5 max foreigners allowed in the starting 11, with three taking the field. Kalu Uche gave the Delhi Dynamos the lead from the penalty spot in the 35th minute after Prasanth Karuthadathkuni brought Dynamos' Seityasen Singh down in the box. At halftime, James took off Karan Sawhney and brought on 19-year old Deependra Negi for his professional debut and three minutes into the second half the former India U17 captain scored the equalizer for the Kerala Blasters from a corner. Negi then contributed to the Blasters' second goal when he drew a penalty while running into the box. Iain Hume scored the ensuing spot kick as the Kerala Blasters went on to win 2–1.[41]

On 2 February 2018, the Kerala Blasters played their first match of the last full month of the season against Pune City at the Balewadi Stadium. Despite having the most chances in the first half, it took until the 58th minute for the Blasters to take the lead through Jackichand Singh. Emiliano Alfaro then equalized for Pune City in the 78th minute before C.K. Vineeth found the winner for the Kerala Blasters three minutes into stoppage time for them to win 2–1.[42] Six days later, the club traveled to Kolkata to take on ATK. Despite Guðjón Baldvinsson and Dimitar Berbatov scoring their first goals for the club, both times giving the team the lead, the Blasters conceded twice to draw the match 2–2.[43]

The Kerala Blasters then ended their three game away run with a victory against NorthEast United on 17 February 2018 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. Wes Brown scored the winner for the club in the 28th minute to keep the Blasters hopes of qualification alive.[44] On 23 February, the Blasters played their final home match of the season against Southern rivals Chennaiyin. Neither side could find the net in the 0–0 draw as the Blasters' chance of qualification for the finals suffered a massive blow.[45]

The Blasters then ended their season on 1 March 2018 away from home against Bengaluru. Despite managing to hold on throughout the match, Bengaluru managed to come out as 2–0 winners with stoppage time goals coming from Miku and Udanta Singh. This meant that the Blasters had failed to qualify for the finals for the second time in their history.[46]

Kerala Blasters v Mumbai City

3 December 2017 (2017-12-03) 3	Kerala Blasters	1–1	Mumbai City	Kochi
20:00 IST	Sifneos  14'	Report	B. Singh  77'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 35,392 Referee: R Venkatesh

Goa v Kerala Blasters

9 December 2017 (2017-12-09) 4	Goa	5–2	Kerala Blasters	Margao
20:00 IST	Lanzarote  9', 18' Coro  47', 51', 54'	Report	Sifneos  7' J. Singh  30'	Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 18,482 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna

Kerala Blasters v NorthEast United

15 December 2017 (2017-12-15) 5	Kerala Blasters	1–0	NorthEast United	Kochi
20:00 IST	Vineeth  24'	Report		Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 33,868 Referee: Rowan Arumughan

Chennaiyin v Kerala Blasters

22 December 2017 (2017-12-22) 6	Chennaiyin	1–1	Kerala Blasters	Chennai
20:00 IST	Vineeth  90+4'	Report	Rene Mihelič  89' (pen.)	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 16,754 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

Kerala Blasters v Bengaluru

31 December 2017 (2017-12-31) 7	Kerala Blasters	1–3	Bengaluru	Kochi
17:30 IST	Pekuson  90+6'	Report	Chhetri  60' (pen) Miku  90+3', 90+4'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 37,986 Referee: R Venkatesh

Kerala Blasters v Pune City

4 January 2018 (2018-01-04) 8	Kerala Blasters	1–1	Pune City	Kochi
20:00 IST	Sifneos  73'	Report	Marcelinho  33'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 26,586 Referee: R. Venkatesh

Delhi Dynamos v Kerala Blasters

10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) 9	Delhi Dynamos	1–3	Kerala Blasters	Delhi
20:00 IST	Kotal  44'	Report	Hume  12', 78', 83'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 10,132 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

Mumbai City v Kerala Blasters

14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) 10	Mumbai City	0–1	Kerala Blasters	Mumbai
17:30 IST		Report	Hume  23'	Stadium: Mumbai Football Arena Attendance: 8,597 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

Jamshedpur v Kerala Blasters

17 January 2018 (2018-01-17) 11	Jamshedpur	2–1	Kerala Blasters	Jamshedpur
20:00 IST	Mawihmingthanga  1' Biswas  31'	Report	Sifneos  90+3'	Stadium: JRD Tata Sports Complex Attendance: 21,240 Referee: Raul Gupta

Kerala Blasters v Goa

21 January 2018 (2018-01-21) 12	Kerala Blasters	1–2	Goa	Kochi
20:00 IST	Vineeth  29'	Report	Coro  7' Bedia  77'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 29,769 Referee: Raul Gupta

Kerala Blasters v Delhi Dynamos

27 January 2018 (2018-01-27) 13	Kerala Blasters	2–1	Delhi Dynamos	Kochi
20:00 IST	Negi  48' Hume  75' (pen)	Report	Uche  35' (pen)	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 16,796 Referee: Ranjit Bakshi

Pune City v Kerala Blasters

2 February 2018 (2018-02-02) 14	Pune City	1–2	Kerala Blasters	Pune
20:00 IST	Alfaro  78' (pen)	Report	J. Singh  58' Vineeth  90+3'	Stadium: Balewadi Stadium Attendance: 9,463 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

ATK v Kerala Blasters

9 February 2018 (2018-02-09) 15	ATK	2–2	Kerala Blasters	Kolkata
20:00 IST	Taylor  38' Thorpe  75'	Report	Baldvinsson  33' Berbatov  55'	Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium Attendance: 4,292 Referee: R Venkatesh

NorthEast United v Kerala Blasters

17 February 2018 (2018-02-17) 16	NorthEast United	0–1	Kerala Blasters	Guwahati
20:00 IST		Report	Brown  28'	Stadium: Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium Attendance: 1,212 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

Bengaluru v Kerala Blasters

1 March 2018 (2018-03-01) 18	Bengaluru	2–0	Kerala Blasters	Bangalore
20:00 IST	Miku  90+1' U. Singh  90+3'	Report		Stadium: Sree Kanteerava Stadium Attendance: 25,373 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

The Super Cup is a knockout football competition in India. The 2018 edition was be the first ever tournament. The competition only featured teams from both the Indian Super League and the I-League, India's two top-tier football leagues.[47] As the Kerala Blasters finished in sixth place during the 2017–18 ISL season, they entered the main competition directly which was hosted at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.[48]

The Kerala Blasters were drawn to face NEROCA on 6 April 2018.[49] NEROCA had finished 2nd in the 2017–18 I-League.[50]

After the match, the Blasters were eliminated by

losi for ng 3–2.[51] Goals for NEROCA were scored by Jean-Michel Joachim, Aryn Williams, and Felix Chidi Odili while Kerala Blasters found the net through Pulga and Prasanth Karuthadathkuni.[51]

NEROCA v Kerala Blasters

6 April 2018 (2018-04-06) First round	NEROCA	3–2	Kerala Blasters	Bhubaneswar
	Joachim  68' Williams  79' Odili  81' (pen.)	Report	Pulga  11' Karuthadathkuni  49'	Stadium: Kalinga Stadium Attendance: 1,865 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

• 2017–18 in Indian football