Kerala Blasters 0-1 Chennaiyin FC Highlights, ISL: Marina Machans Seal Hard-Fought Win In Southern Derby

Good evening, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering the ISL match between Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyin FC. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.

• Fixture: Kerala Blasters FC vs Chennaiyin FC

• Series: Indian Super League 2025-26

• Venue: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi

• Date: Saturday, March 7, 2026

• Time: 7:30 PM IST

The Indian Super League 2025-26 matches, including Kerala Blasters vs Chennaiyin FC, will be live-streamed on the FanCode app and website in India. The television broadcast of the game will take place on the Sony TEN 2 channel in the country.

Top Scorers:

• Jamie Maclaren (Mohun Bagan): 7 goals in 4 matches

• Youssef Ezzejjari (East Bengal): 4 goals in 4 matches

• Dejan Drazic (FC Goa): 3 goals in 4 matches

Top Assists:

• Madih Talal (Jamshedpur FC); Anirudh Thapa, Liston Colaco, Subhasish Bose (Mohun Bagan): All 2 assists in 2 matches

Starting XI: Arsh Shaikh; Aibabha Dohling, Ruivah Hormipam, Bikash Yumnam (c), Naocha Singh Huidrom; Matias Hernandez, Vibin Mohanan, Nihal Sudeesh; Kevin Yoke, Muhammad Ajsal, Victor Bartomeu.

Bench: Sachin Suresh (gk), Sandeep Singh, Muhammed Saheef, Marlon Roos-Trujillo, Danish Farooq Bhat, Freddy Lallawmawma, Ebindas Y, Jai Quitongo.

Starting XI: Mohammad Nawaz; Laldinliana Renthlei, Elsinho, Pritam Kotal, Mandar Rao Dessai; Imran Khan, Alberto Noguera (c), Mohammed Bemammer, Farukh Choudhary; Maheson Tongbram Singh, Inigo Martin.

Bench: Samik Mitra (gk), Klusner Pereira, PC Laldinpuia, Eduardo Kau, Jitendra Singh, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Dnaiel Chima Chuwku, Vivek S, Prakadeswaran S.

The referee blows his whistle, and Chennaiyin FC get the match underway in Kochi, with the visitors playing with a back four. Kerala Blasters, desperate for a good result tonight, have started on the front foot.

There's a bit of pinball play going on in Kochi, with the football being played from one end to the other without much control or rhythm. A long ball from Farukh – a rare good of passing – finds the run of Martin. However, his attempt to bring the ball down sends it behind, and Imran's resulting shot hits the crossbar.

Chennaiyin win a corner, and it's a good delivery into the box by Noguera. It has a bit of top spin, finding the head of Bemmamer towards the far post. However, the Moroccan centre-back's header is straight at Shaikh, who holds on to it.

Maheson has a shot from an acute angle, bringing out a good save from Shaikh. However, the resulting corner is cleared away easily by the defence. Chennaiyin have been dominant so far.

Much better from Kerala Blasters, who are keeping hold of the ball. Hernandez plays a good floated ball towards the middle, where Ajsal – making his first start of the season – has a first time shot that is deflected behind for a corner.

Catala wanted his men to put pressure on the opponents and win the 50-50s, which the hosts are doing now. Herhandez has a shot from distance that is straight at Nawaz. Chennaiyin come forward again, with Nihal playing a good low cross from the right. It comes to Ajsal, who shoots on the turn but it doesn't trouble Nawaz.

As we reach the half-way mark, it's time for the first water break. It has been a game of two quarters,w ith Chennaiyin dominating the first 15-odd minutes, and then the Blasters clawing their way back into the match.

The Blasters are forced into making a change in the first half, with Bikash Yumnam going down with what looks like a issue with his hamstring. The defender walks off the pitch – that's always encouraging – and Roos-Trujillo comes on. Interesting to see how Catala changes the shape of the side. Aiban has the captain's armband now.

The ball is in the back of the net for Chennaiyin, but it won't count! Farukh did very well to turn and play Mandar free down the left flank, and the full-back plays a peach of a cross across the face of the goal. Martin, completely unmarked, pokes it into the back of the net, but the flag had gone up for offside.

Imran Khan with his left foot puts Chennaiyin ahead before half-time. Imran is teed up by Noguera, and the winger has a hard low effort from some distance. It probably would have been saved by Shaikh, but a slight deflection of a defender's head takes it past the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.

The two minutes of added time are over, and the referee blows his whistle to bring the first half to an end. It's the visitors, Chennaiyin FC, who take a slender lead courtesy of Imran Khan's deflected goal right before the interval.

The players are out of the tunnel, and Kerala Blasters get the second half underway. No changes at the break for either side as far as I can see. Good bit of posession from the hosts in the early stages.

Another injury blow, this time to Chennaiyin FC. Maheson goes down in some pain, possibly having rolled his ankle. The physio signals that he be taken off, but the attacker looks like he will try to shake it off. It remains to be seen what Clifford Miranda does.

Meanwhile, there's a glorious chance for Kerala Blasters. With their opposition down to 10 men temporarily, the Blasters play the ball to Yoke. The Frenchman tees it to Huidrom, who plays a low cross towards the other side, where Nihal, arriving with pace, fires a shot into the crossbar.

With time running out, Catala makes a double change. Sandeep Singh comes on in place of Aiban, and Ebindas replaces Vibin Mohanan. The Blasters side has been really down and out throughout, and with just over half-an-hour remaining, can they spark an unlikely comeback?

How did the ball not go in for the Blasters?! Chennaiyin looked like they had put their putt off the gas, and the home side almost capitalised on that. Brilliant work by Nawaz to deny Bartomeu's scuffed effort, and then Naocha makes a brilliant block to deny the rebound shot.

The resulting corner is played towards the far post by Ebindas, but Ajsal's header glances past the post. He was unmarked, and had to hit to target from there.

The game has gotten stretched and much more scrappy, which suits Chennaiyin just fine and Kerala look to break every chance that they get. For now, though, the home side are struggling to play in the opposition's box. Maybe time time to bring on someone like Danish Farooq or Quitongo.

A foul by Hormipam on Noguera, which earns him a yellow card, gives Chennaiyin FC a breather. It has been wave upon wave of attack from the Manjappada, but Nawaz is yet to be tested seriously in the last 10 minutes or so. Eight minutes plus stoppage time for thhe home side to get something out of this match.

The quality of the match has dropped quite a bit, with Chennaiyin players trying to hamper the flow of the game whenever possible. That has earned the wrath of the home supporters, with Catala earning a yellow card for protesting too much. Meanwhile, eight minutes of time added on by the fourth official.

The eight minutes of stoppage time are up, and the referee brings the match to an end. It has been a game of very little quality and rhythm, and it's only fair that a deflected strike proves to be the winner. This is Chennaiyin's first win in Kochi in six games, condemning the Blasters to their fourth consecutive loss of the season.