AIFF Super Cup 2025-26: Obieta bracket helps Kerala Blasters beat Sporting Club Delhi

Kerala Blasters (KBFC) were at their attacking best, scoring three goals without reply against Sporting Club Delhi (SCD) in their AIFF Super Cup Group D match at the GMC Athletic Stadium here on Monday.

Newcomer Koldo Obieta found the net twice, while Thingujam Korou Singh scored with a brilliant overhead kick in a dominant win for the three-time Indian Super League finalists.

The match came alive from the start when Juan Rodriguez’s header, from an Adrian Luna corner, rattled the crossbar in the fourth minute.

SCD, starting with a five-man defense, tried to contain the constant bombardment of attacks, with Blasters’ Obieta, Noah Sadaoui, Nihal Sudheesh, Adrian Luna and Korou all relentlessly hunting for loose balls. And they found their prey in Ayush Adhikari, whose soft back-pass in the 18th minute was captured by Obieta, who buried the ball past Vishal Yadav and into the net.

Adhikari’s day only got worse five minutes later when Dusan Lagator dispossessed him from the back, allowing Korou to carry the ball into the final third. The striker crossed to the left to Sudheesh, who laid it off for Obieta to find the bottom left corner for the second.

SCD’s head coach, Tomasz Tchorz, had seen enough and Adhikari was replaced by Ramhlunchhunga after the first cooling-off break, but that could not stop the misery.

KBFC vs SCD – JUST AS IT HAPPENED

Within four minutes the deficit increased from two to three. Luna’s boldly lobbed ball into the penalty area was smashed into the net by Korou, who had run behind SCD’s defense, fooling the captain, Alex Saji.

In the second half, KBFC unsurprisingly went for a defensive shape and shifted from a 4-1-4-1 to 5-3-2, with Lagator dropping back as an additional centre-back or Korou doubling as a wing-back depending on the attacking area.

SCD’s biggest chance came after the hour mark when Augustine Lalrochana fended off KBFC’s defense and took a shot from distance, but it ended up comfortably in the gloves of Nora Fernandes.

Tchorz brought in local star Devendra Murgaokar in the final stages of the match to find a way back. Within a minute he was awarded a free kick and Andrei Alba’s subsequent shot went just wide of Nora’s far post.

KBFC could have scored a fourth in second-half stoppage time, but Tiago Alves’ free kick hit the upright.

The victory means that KBFC remains the leader in the group for the time being, with six points from two games and a goal difference of four. They will end the group stage on November 6 against Mumbai City FC, who will later face Rajasthan United at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao.

Published on November 3, 2025