2018–19 Kerala Blasters FC season

The 2018–19 season was the fifth season in Kerala Blasters FC's existence, as well as their fifth season in Indian Super League.

Kerala Blasters

2018–19 season
CEO	Varun Tripuneni(till 6 March 2019), Viren D'Silva(from 7 March 2019)[1]
Head Coach	David James(till 22 Dec 2018), Nelo Vingada(from 18 Jan 2019)[2]
Stadium	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, Kerala
Indian Super League	9th
Top goalscorer	League: Slaviša Stojanović Matej Poplatnik (4 goals each) All: Slaviša Stojanović Matej Poplatnik (4 goals each)
Highest home attendance	34,539
Lowest home attendance	1,564
Average home league attendance	16,432
Home colours Away colours
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Review and events

Indian Super League

See also: 2018–19 Indian Super League

Kerala Blasters started their 2018–19 Hero Indian Super League campaign with a 0–2 victory over ATK. But the Hero ISL 2018–19 was a disastrous campaign for Kerala Blasters as they finished the season in 9th place in the table.

Super Cup

See also: 2019 Indian Super Cup

The team's performance in the Super Cup was also well below as that of expected. They were eliminated in the qualification round by Indian Arrows.

Players

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IND Dheeraj Singh 4 DF  SRB Nemanja Lakić-Pešić 5 DF  IND Abdul Hakku 6 MF  SRB Nikola Krčmarević 7 DF  FRA Cyril Kali 8 FW  SRB Slaviša Stojanović 9 MF  IND Seiminlen Doungel 10 FW  SVN Matej Poplatnik 11 MF  IND Prasanth K 12 DF  IND Mohammad Rakip 15 DF  IND Anas Edathodika 17 MF  UGA Kizito Keziron

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  IND Sahal Abdul Samad 20 MF  IND Deependra Negi 21 DF  IND Sandesh Jhingan 22 MF  IND Zakeer Mundampara 23 DF  IND Pritam Singh 25 GK  IND Sujith Sasikumar 30 FW  IND Baoringdao Bodo 33 FW  IND Jithin MS 34 MF  IND Suraj Rawat 35 MF  IND Hrishi Dhath 39 DF  IND Lalruatthara 99 MF  GHA Courage Pekuson

Players In

No.	Position	Player	Last club	Date	Ref
1	GK	Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem	Indian Arrows	2 June 2018
15	DF	Anas Edathodika	Jamshedpur	8 June 2018	[3]
19	MF	Halicharan Narzary	NorthEast United	12 June 2018	[4]
_	DF	Abdul Nediyodath	NorthEast United	19 June 2018	[5]
32	GK	Naveen Kumar	Goa	25 June 2018	[6]
33	FW	Jithin MS	F.C. Kerala	27 June 2018	[7]
9	FW	Seiminlen Doungel	NorthEast United	29 June 2018	[8]
7	DF	Cyril Kali	Apollon Pontou	3 July 2018	[9]
8	FW	Slaviša Stojanović	Radnički Niš	6 July 2018	[10]
10	FW	Matej Poplatnik	Triglav Kranj	8 July 2018	[11]
22	MF	Zakeer Mundampara	Mumbai City	9 July 2018	[12]
26	MF	Nikola Krcmarevic	07 Vestur	24 August 2018	[13]
–	MF	Jeakson Singh	Minerva Punjab	22 September 2018
30	FW	Baoringdao Bodo	Chennaiyin FC	24 January 2019

Players Out

No.	Position	Player	Outgoing club	Date	Fee	Ref
10	FW	Iain Hume	FC Pune City	6 June 2018	Deal
15	FW	Guðjón Baldvinsson	Stjarnan	16 March 2018	End of Loan
27	GK	Subhasish Roy Chowdhury	Jamshedpur	26 April 2018	Free	[14]
31	DF	Rino Anto	Bengaluru	6 June 2018	Free	[15]
19	MF	Siam Hanghal	Delhi Dynamos	11 June 2018	Free	[16]
20	MF	Jackichand Singh	Goa	29 June 2018	Free	[17]
–	MF	Jeakson Singh	Indian Arrows	23 September 2018	Loan Out
13	FW	C. K. Vineeth	Chennaiyin FC	24 January 2019	Loan Out	[18]
19	MF	Halicharan Narzary	Chennaiyin FC	24 January 2019	Loan Out	[18]
32	GK	Naveen Kumar	FC Goa	24 January 2019	Loan Out	[19]

Statistics

Squad appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		ISL		Super Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	IND	Dheeraj Singh	14	0	13	0	1	0
25	GK	IND	Sujith Sasikumar	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	GK	IND	Naveen Kumar	5	0	5	0	0	0
Defenders
4	DF	SRB	Nemanja Lakić-Pešić	15	0	14	0	1	0
5	DF	IND	Abdul Hakku	2	0	2	0	0	0
7	DF	FRA	Cyril Kali	14	0	14	0	0	0
12	DF	IND	Mohammad Rakip	12	0	11	0	1	0
15	DF	IND	Anas Edathodika	9	0	8	0	1	0
21	DF	IND	Sandesh Jhingan	19	0	18	0	1	0
23	DF	IND	Pritam Singh	6	0	5	0	1	0
39	DF	IND	Lalruatthara	12	0	12	0	0	0
Midfielders
6	MF	SRB	Nikola Krčmarević	13	2	12	2	1	0
9	MF	IND	Seiminlen Doungel	19	2	18	2	1	0
11	MF	IND	Prasanth K	12	0	11	0	1	0
17	MF	UGA	Kizito Keziron	14	0	13	0	1	0
18	MF	IND	Sahal Abdul Samad	18	1	17	1	1	0
19	MF	IND	Halicharan Narzary	12	1	12	1	0	0
20	MF	IND	Deependra Negi	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	IND	Zakeer Mundampara	6	0	5	0	1	0
33	MF	IND	Jithin MS	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	MF	IND	Suraj Rawat	2	0	2	0	0	0
35	MF	IND	Hrishi Dhath	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	MF	GHA	Courage Pekuson	13	1	13	1	0	0
Forwards
10	FW	SRB	Slaviša Stojanović	21	4	20	4	1	0
10	FW	SVN	Matej Poplatnik	17	4	16	4	1	0
13	FW	IND	C.K. Vineeth	10	2	10	2	0	0
30	FW	IND	Baoringdao Bodo	2	0	2	0	0	0

Squad statistics

	ISL	Super Cup	Total
Games played	18	1	19
Games won	2	0	2
Games drawn	9	0	9
Games lost	7	1	8
Goals scored	18	0	18
Goals conceded	28	2	30
Goal difference	−10	−2	−12
Clean sheets	4	0	4
Yellow cards	37	1	38
Red cards	2	1	3

Players Used: Kerala Blasters has used a total of 23 different players in all competitions.

Goalscorers

No.	Pos.	Nation	Name	ISL	Super Cup	Total
8	MF		Slaviša Stojanović	4	0	4
10	MF		Matej Poplatnik	4	0	4
6	FW		Nikola Krčmarević	2	0	2
13	MF		C.K. Vineeth	2	0	2
9	MF		Seiminlen Doungel	2	0	2
19	MF		Halicharan Narzary	1	0	1
18	MF		Sahal Abdul Samad	1	0	1
99	MF		Courage Pekuson	1	0	1
Own Goal				1	0	1
TOTAL				18	0	18

Clean sheets

No.	Nation	Name	ISL	Super Cup	Total	Games Played
2		Dheeraj Singh	4	0	4	14
TOTAL			4	0	4	19

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Nation	Name	ISL			Super Cup			Total
39	DF		Lalruatthara	5	0	1	0	0	0	5	0	1
15	DF		Anas Edathodika	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
22	MF		Zakeer Mundampara	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
21	DF		Sandesh Jhingan	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
1	GK		Dheeraj Singh	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
18	MF		Sahal Abdul Samad	3	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0
13	MF		C.K. Vineeth	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
10	FW		Matej Poplatnik	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
7	DF		Cyril Kali	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
8	MF		Slaviša Stojanović	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
4	DF		Nemanja Lakić-Pešić	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
6	MF		Nikola Krčmarević	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
9	MF		Seiminlen Doungel	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
19	MF		Halicharan Narzary	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
23	DF		Pritam Singh	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
11	MF		Prasanth K	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
17	MF		Kizito Keziron	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
5	DF		Abdul Hakku	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
TOTAL				35	1	1	1	0	1	36	1	2

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss

Kerala Blasters started their pre season in July in Ahmedabad to prepare for a competition called Toyota Yaris La Liga World. They faced Melbourne City FC from Australia and Spanish club Girona FC in the competition. They suffered heavy losses by Australian club 0–6 and Spanish club 0–5.

In September 2018, Kerala started their second phase of pre season before Indian Super League in Thailand. Where they played some friendly matches with local clubs.

Kerala Blasters v Melbourne City

24 July 2018 Toyota Yaris LaLiga World	Kerala Blasters	0–6	Melbourne City	Kochi, India
19:00 IST		Source	Dario Vidosic 30' Riley McGree 33' Lachlan Wales 50' Ramy Najjarine 75' Bruno Fornaroli 79'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium

Kerala Blasters v Girona FC

28 July 2018 Toyota Yaris LaLiga World	Kerala Blasters	0–5	Girona FC	Kochi, India
19:00 IST		Source	Eric Monteś 43' Pedro Porro 54' Alex Granell 57' Aday Benitez 75' Aleix Garcia Serrano 90+2'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium

Thonburi University v Kerala Blasters

7 September 2018 Friendly	Thonburi University	1–4	Kerala Blasters	Bangkok, Thailand
15:00 IST	T. Punboonchu 85'		Doungel 17' Sahal 70' Stojanović 73' Kharpan 80'	Stadium: Thonburi University Stadium, Thailand

Port FC B v Kerala Blasters

12 September 2018 Friendly	Port FC B	1–3	Kerala Blasters	Bangkok, Thailand
15:00 IST	Ariya Pon 74'	Source	Sahal 47' C.K. Vineeth 54' Stojanović 86'	Stadium: PAT Stadium, Thailand

Bangkok United FC B v Kerala Blasters

19 September 2018 Friendly	Bangkok United FC B	0–2	Kerala Blasters	Pathum Thani, Thailand
15:00 IST		Source	Nikola 50' Matej 67'	Stadium: Thammasat Stadium, Thailand

Buriram United FC B v Kerala Blasters

21 September 2018 Friendly	Buriram United FC B	0–6	Kerala Blasters	Buriram, Thailand
15:00 IST		Source	Doungel 27,45' Slavisa 32' Hrishi 38' Zakeer 50' Matej 58'	Stadium: Chang Arena, Thailand

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Record
				Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
ISL	29 September 2018 (2018-09-29)	1 March 2019 (2019-03-01)	Matchday 1	18	2	9	7	18	28	−10	011.11
Super Cup				1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Total				19	2	9	8	18	30	−12	010.53

Last updated: 6 March 2019 (2019-03-06).
Source: Competitions

Indian Super League

Main article: 2018–19 Indian Super League

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
6	ATK	18	6	6	6	18	22	−4	24
7	Pune City	18	6	4	8	24	30	−6	22
8	Delhi Dynamos	18	4	6	8	23	27	−4	18
9	Kerala Blasters	18	2	9	7	18	28	−10	15
10	Chennaiyin	18	2	3	13	16	32	−16	9

Source: Indian Super League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) fair play ranking; 6) drawing of lots

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
18	2	9	7	18	28	−10	15	1	5	3	9	10	−1	1	4	4	9	18	−9

Last updated: 16 December 2018.
Source: Matchday

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	W	D	D	D	D	L	L	L	D	D	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	D

Updated to match(es) played on 16 December 2018. Source: Matchday
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matchday

ATK v Kerala Blasters

29 September 2018 (2018-09-29) 1	ATK	0–2	Kerala Blasters	Kolkata, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Maimouni  20'	Report	Matej Poplatnik 77' Slavisa Stojanović 86'	Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium Attendance: 41,202 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna

Kerala Blasters v Mumbai City

5 October 2018 2	Kerala Blasters	1–1	Mumbai City	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Krčmarević  4' H.Narzary 24' Poplatnik  28' Dheeraj  88'	Report	Mirabaje  81' P.Bhumij 90+3'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 34,539 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta

Kerala Blasters v Delhi Dynamos

20 October 2018 3	Kerala Blasters	1–1	Delhi Dynamos	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	C. K. Vineeth 4'	Report	Kaluđerović 84'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 31,782 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

Jamshedpur v Kerala Blasters

29 October 2018 4	Jamshedpur	2–2	Kerala Blasters	Jamshedpur, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	T. Cahill 3' M. Soossiraj 31' S. Balmuchu  90'	Report	Sahal  57' Slavisa Stojanović 71' C. K. Vineeth 85' S. Doungel  90'	Stadium: JRD Tata Sports Complex Attendance: 20,889 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna

Pune City v Kerala Blasters

2 November 2018 5	Pune City	1–1	Kerala Blasters	Pune, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Stankovic 13' Adil Khan  47' Lalchhuanmawia  72' Alfaro  87'	Report	Jhingan  33' Krcmarevic 61' C. K. Vineeth  75'	Stadium: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Attendance: 2,561 Referee: Om Prakash Thakur

Kerala Blasters v Bengaluru

5 November 2018 6	Kerala Blasters	1–2	Bengaluru	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Stojanović 29' (pen.) Lalruatthara  49' C. K. Vineeth  79'	Report	Sunil Chhetri 17' Albert Serran  79' Nikola Krcmarevic 81' (o.g.)	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi Attendance: 29,112 Referee: R.Venkatesh

Kerala Blasters v Goa

11 November 2018 7	Kerala Blasters	1–3	Goa	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Sandesh Jhingan  31' Nikola Krcmarevic 90+2'	Report	Ferran Corominas 11' Mohamed Ali  34' Ferran Corominas 45+2' Edu Bedia  51' Manvir Singh 67' Hugo Boumous  81'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi Attendance: 21,993 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna

NorthEast United v Kerala Blasters

23 November 2018 8	NorthEast United	2–1	Kerala Blasters	Guwahati, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Reagan Singh  38' Bartholomew Ogbeche 90+3' (pen.) Juan Mascia 90+6'	Report	Lakić-Pešić  35' Matej Poplatnik 73',  88' Dheeraj Singh  87' Lalruatthara  90'	Stadium: Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium Attendance: 9,476 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta

Chennaiyin v Kerala Blasters

29 November 2018 9	Chennaiyin	0–0	Kerala Blasters	Chennai, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)		Report		Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 12,577 Referee: Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Bin Jahari

Kerala Blasters v Jamshedpur

4 December 2018 10	Kerala Blasters	1–1	Jamshedpur	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Stojanović  19' Narzary  36' Dheeraj Singh  66' Seiminlen Doungel 77' Zakeer Mundampara  84'	Report	Memo  43' Calvo 66' (pen.)	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium Attendance: 1,564 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta

Kerala Blasters v Pune City

7 December 2018 11	Kerala Blasters	0–1	Pune City	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Stojanović  58'	Report	Golui  11' Marcelinho 20' Panwar  50' Stanković  54'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium Attendance: 7,349 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

Mumbai City v Kerala Blasters

16 December 2018 12	Mumbai City	6–1	Kerala Blasters	Mumbai, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Sougou 12', 15', 30', 90' Bastos 70' Mirabaje 89'	Report	Len 27' Zakeer  35'  45' Sahal  41'	Stadium: Mumbai Football Arena Attendance: 5,551 Referee: Umesh Bora

Kerala Blasters v ATK

25 January 2019 13	Kerala Blasters	1–1	ATK	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Krčmarević  80' Lalruatthara  84' Gerson Vieira 88' (o.g.)	Report	Edu García 85'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 4,582 Referee: L Ajitkumar Meitei

Delhi Dynamos v Kerala Blasters

31 January 2019 14	Delhi Dynamos	2–0	Kerala Blasters	Delhi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Gianni Zuiverloon 29' Marcos Tébar  90' Rene Mihelič 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Lalruatthara  51' Cyril Kali  68' Lakić-Pešić  90'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 3,134 Referee: A Rowan

Bengaluru v Kerala Blasters

6 February 2019 15	Bengaluru	2–2	Kerala Blasters	Bengaluru, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Albert Serrán  26' Paartalu  33' Udanta Singh 69' Sunil Chhetri 85'	Report	Stojanović 16' (pen.) Courage Pekuson 40' Kizito Keziron  45' Len  54' Prithan  56' Sahal  62'	Stadium: Sree Kanteerava Stadium Attendance: 13,572 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

Kerala Blasters v Chennaiyin

15 February 2019 16	Kerala Blasters	3–0	Chennaiyin	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Matej Poplatnik 23', 55' Sahal 71' Cyril Kali  87'	Report	Chris Herd  12' Gregory Nelson  67'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 3,298 Referee: Adham Mohammad Tumah Makhadmeh

Goa v Kerala Blasters

18 February 2019 17	Goa	3–0	Kerala Blasters	Margoa, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Ferran Corominas 22' Edu Bedia 25' Hugo Boumous 78'	Report	Lalruatthara  34' Sandesh Jhingan  60'	Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 14,482 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna

Kerala Blasters v NorthEast United

1 March 2019 18	Kerala Blasters	0–0	NorthEast United	Kochi, India
19:30 IST (UTC+05:30)	Sandesh Jhingan  32' Prasanth K  84'	Report	Gurwinder Singh  23'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 8,978 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta

See also

• 2018–19 in Indian football