ISL: Kerala in final as Materazzi fluffs his lines

CHENNAI: The determination of Kerala Blasters and a couple of mistakes by Chennaiyin FC player-manager Marco Materazzi ensured that David James' boys are the first finalists of the Indian Super League after a gruelling 120-minute battle here on Tuesday.
Chennai, who came into the second leg of the semifinals 0-3 down, overturned it in regulation time despite a missed penalty by Materazzi. Kerala were a man down with Jamie McAllister being shown the red card in the 23rd minute and it all seemed to be going in Chennai's favour.Numerical supremacy in extra time could be crucial but Materazzi, playing as a defensive screen, made an unnecessary challenge on Milagres Gonsalves in the first half of the extra time that led to his expulsion.
Chennai were down to 10 men and with Alessandro Nesta also limping out, their defence was considerably weakened. This was the chance Kerala were looking for. With three minutes to go for the final whistle, Stephen Pearson weaved in down the right and placed his left-footer beyond the outstretched hands of Shilton Paul that sealed the issue 4-3 in favour of Kerala.
The Chennai fans, which included Amitabh Bachchan and the Ambanis, were stunned into silence after witnessing an unbelievable comeback in reg ulation time.
Bernard Mendy, operating down the wing, was a livewire for Chennai as they went all out from the beginning. In the 42nd minute, Chennai won a foul on the left. Materazzi floated the free-kick in and Silvestre made no mistake to head it in.
Immediately after the break, CFC were awarded a penalty when Maurice, trying to reach a Mendy cross, was fouled by Jhingan. Materazzi converted it but the referee Tejas Nagvenkar wanted the kick retaken. The Italian, who had two goals (including one in the tie-breaker) in 2006 World Cup final, sent the next one wide.