“They are always there in numbers,” Kerala Blasters defender Nishu Kumar acknowledges the exceptional fans after win against RGPFC

Nishu Kumar has been one of the most consistent fullbacks in the Indian circuit for quite some time. His performances for Kerala Blasters though have been hot and cold in the Indian Super League. However, he scored a goal against RoundGlass Punjab in their 3-1 win in the Super Cup.

Nishu scored in the 56th minute handing the Blasters a 2-0 lead over RGPFC. Apart from him, Dimitrios Diamantikos opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Later Rahul KP also found the net. Khungdongbam Kishananda Singh scored the only goal for the Punjab outfit.

After the win over RoundGlass Punjab, Nishu shared that it feels great for him to contribute in his team’s victory as he wants to chip in with more goals in the upcoming matches.

The goal surely came in at a crucial juncture of the match as RGPFC were attacking and looking to get back to the game. But Nishu’s goal thwarted their plans and extended the lead for the Blasters and also more or less assured the win for Ivan Vukomanovic’s side.

“It feels great to score like that. I’ve practised that move many times, and scored a few in a similar fashion too,” Nishu told to the AIFF.

“I’ve always been trying to score like this. It was also a crucial point in the match, and the contest between the two teams was quite close, so that goal turned out to be very important for us at that point. I’m happy that I could be the one to provide our team with security,” he reflected.
It was a morale-boosting win for the Blasters as they defeated the I-League champions, who were in good form recently. Even Nishu Kumar acknowledges that and feels that it was a big win for the team.

“RoundGlass Punjab are a good team with a lot of quality players in their ranks,” said Nishu. “They gave us a tough fight right till the very end, and I’m sure it was not easy for them to do so as they were playing against our home crowd,” Nishu said.

He also lauded the fans for their relentless and unconditional support. “I could see the sea of yellow everywhere in the stands. They were cheering for the whole 90 minutes, and I am really grateful,” he said. “No matter where we go, they are always there in numbers,” he added.
Kerala Blasters will next face I-League runners-up, Sreenidi Deccan FC on April 12 at the EMS Corporation ground.

However, the fans will wait for the match against Bengaluru FC on April 16. The main reason for that is the rivalry between the two teams and also how things unfolded in the ISL playoffs when Ivan Vukomanovic walked off the ground in his protest against Sunil Chhetri’s controversial freekick goal. It will be interesting to see how the players and Vukomanovic react to the rematch in such short time.