Nazon almost doubled the lead as he cut inside from the by-line with a shimmy, but hit the side netting and moments later Rafi followed suit. Duckens Nazon and Aaron Hughes scored their maiden ISL goals, in the seventh and 57th minutes respectively, while Anibal Rodriguez pulled one back for Pune with a sumptuous freekick deep in injury time.With a quarter of an hour left, both managers had played all their substitution cards and Dramane Traore, who was the last to come off the bench, forced a reflex save off Nandy. But the veteran could not keep out a brilliant Anibal free-kick that smashed into the net at the start of six minutes. Vineeth, with an acrobatic effort, going close.Kerala started brilliantly, Nazon and C.K. Pune had three changes with former Kerala player Rahul Bheke reinstated at right-back in an all-Indian backline.
Soon, German was denied a shot on target by Ravanan’s block..The win moved Kerala back into third place on 18 points, one above Delhi Dynamos, who have a game in hand.Kerala started the second half brightly and after Belfort had scuffed his shot and Rafi had fired straight at Bete, the second goal arrived.Steve Coppell had made five changes to his side that lost heavily in Mumbai. With two matches left, it will be a serious let down if Kerala miss out on the playoffs.As the initial momentum waned, Kerala appeared to chase the game, leaving a window open for counter-attacks.Kochi: Kerala Blasters put one foot in the semi-finals with an inspiring 2-1 win over FC Pune City here on Friday. Northern Irishman Hughes was the unlikeliest scorer as he nodded in, at the far post, a Vineeth dink resulting from a deep corner.At the other end, Bete continued to keep the game alive with a brilliant save to deny Vineeth, who was picked out by Nazon.
