ISL 2023-24: Kerala Blasters beat Bengaluru FC 2-1 in opening match of season 10

Bengaluru FC suffered a 1-2 defeat to Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League (2023-24) season opener on Thursday, making a forgettable start to their campaign in the 10th season of ISL. New signee Curtis Main, a second-half substitute, scored late (90'), but the Blues were unable to complete the comeback. The Blasters kicked off the game, with as many as four debutants among Bengaluru's starting eleven.

Slavko Damjanovic, Jessel Carneiro, Keziah Veendorp, and Ryan Williams made their debut for Bengaluru FC. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu took the captain's armband for Bengaluru in the absence of Sunil Chhetri, who was on national duty at the Asian Games. Naorem Roshan Singh's long-range effort caught Sachin Suresh off guard in the 35th minute, giving the Blues their best chance.

However, the Kerala goalkeeper parried it away for a corner as both teams walked down the tunnel at halftime with a 0-0 scoreline. The momentum shifted back to Kerala at the start of the second half. Peprah came close to scoring in the 52nd minute, but Gurpreet blocked the shot.

It was from the resulting corner that the hosts found the lead, with the ball coming off Veendorp's head and past Gurpreet. Grayson turned to his bench in the 65th minute to try and change things as Curtis Main, Javi Hernandez and Parag Shrivas came on for Aleksandar Jovanovic, Keziah Veendorp and Namgyal Bhutia. Just when Bengaluru looked to brush away the setback, another error in defense — this time from Gurpreet — gifted Kerala their second goal of the night.

The Bengaluru custodian took a heavier touch on the ball after receiving a pass from Damjanovic. An onrushing Luna raced to the ball and rolled it into an empty net to make it 2-0. In the 77th minute of the game, Bengaluru substituted Monirul Molla and Harsh Patre for Sivasakthi Narayanan and Rohit Kumar. With a simple finish late in the game, Main ate into Kerala's lead, sparking some hope of a comeback.