ck vineeth
CK Vineeth has led Kerala Blasters to the top four of ISL 2016ISL / Press release

That's all from me Sayantan for tonight. See you another time, in another match, at another day, at another time! Good night :)

FULL TIME! KERALA BLASTERS CAN STILL PLAY THE ISL 2016 FINAL IN KOCHI. ONLY TWO SEMI FINAL MATCHES REMAIN IN BETWEEN.

Sachin Tendulkar's side are through to the ISL 2016 semi finals. Their second semi final entry in the Indian Super League over three years.

Final score: KER 1-0 NEU

90' Reagan Singh the latest to pick up a YELLOW card after a crunching challenge on Rafi.

Additional time: 4 mins

87' CHANCE! Rafi's header off Rehenesh's hand and off the post. REHENESH HAS STILL KEPT THE AWAY SIDE IN THE GAME.

Meanwhile, an irate Romaric gets the YELLOW card.

86' yet again! Rehenesh saves German's low shot on goal.

85' GOAL! NO, WAIT! Antonio German slots the ball in, but it is possibly an offside. Yes it is!

84' ALFARO!!!! NorthEast United are giving their all. He comes agonisingly close to get the equaliser.

83' SEITYASEN!!! What a chance. Great shot on goal, but only if it remained a bit low. Daaaaang.....

81' Mailson again! Good header from a corner but Graham Stack catches the ball comfortably, yet again.

80' Vineeth with another long ranger and the ball is just grabbed by Rehenesh.

78' Robert with an attempt to score the equaliser. But the ball is nowhere near the goal.

Belfort is replaced by Kadio. His needless time-wasting tactics gets Belfort a YELLOW card.

75' SAVED!!! WHAT A SAVE BY REHENESH! Beautiful play by Belfort and Antonio German with a powerful straight shot on goal. Amazing parry by the NorthEast United goalie.

This is the game we wanted!!!

72' CHANCE..... Kervens Belfort with a major chance to make it goal no 2 for Kerala Blasters! But again he misses it....

Meanwhile, Antonio German replaces Duckens Nazon.

69' Mailson Alves with a shot on goal with his header. Is that the equaliser? No, the ball is high over the bar!

68' Belfort now! Goal no 2? No, not quite. Rehenesh takes a good catch.

Holicharan comes on for Robin Gurung.

66' GOOOALLLL!!!! IT'S CK VINEETH AGAIN FOR KERALA BLASTERS.

Individual skill and a powerful low shot on goal from the left wing. He does it again! And the crowd has erupted. Celebrations have begun....

KER 1-0 NEU

53,767 is the attendace figure!

62' Katsumi gets replaced by Robert. Can this Japanese forward be a good luck charm for the away side tonight?

60' ALFARO! The Uruguayan's shot on goal was just pushed away by Stack!

Meanwhile, what sort of a scuffle was that between Alfaro and Jhingan. Both players pick up a YELLOW.

Pratik comes on for Rino Anto.

58' Only a touch was needed from Alfaro to slot the ball inside the goal! What a good pass by Katsumi. Graham Stack as active as ever.

55' The home side are building up well in the attacking third, but nothing is quite happening in their final attempt on goal.

50' Change for NorthEast United FC. Reagan Singh comes on for Nirmal Chhetri.

48' Seityasen has another go on goal! But the ball is high over the bar.

Second half gets under way!

Half time! A lot of physical play so far, but the teams should know that won't help them. We need more of the free flowing football and some better build up at the attacking third. If the score stays goalless until the end of the match too, Kerala Blasters are going through.

KER 0-0 NEUFC

42' Ho ho! Belfort showing some clever freestyle and juggling skills, drawing much applause from the supporters.

40' Ishfaq gets a YELLOW for a heavy challenge on Romaric. Katsumi with a freekick! And the ball is straight to Graham Stack.

36' Wellington with a good run and the final ball is straight to Stack. Meanwhile, Duckens Nazon with a beautiful run, but Nirmal Chhetri halts him. The Indian defender gets a YELLOW for his mistimed challenge!

Chance for Kerala Blasters from a free kick. CK Vineeth takes it and it's headed out by Zokora.

33' Rino Anto gets a YELLOW this time for a crunching tackle, resulting in a free kick for the away side. Romaric takes it, but the ball is over the bar! Wasted chance.

30' Half an hour of play over. Still no goal in sight. Meanwhile, CK Vineeth has received the first YELLOW card of the game.

27' Didier Zokora doesn't seem too pleased with Kervens Belfort there. An argument with the referee ensues.

23' Nice play! Good build up from the away side. Nirmal Chhetri, Katsumi, Alfaro and Mahamat combining well.

20' Goalless so far at Kochi, but the good news remains that the teams are steadily upping their ante. A goal before half time? Quite likely!

18' SHOT! Seityasen going for the kill! He volleys the ball and it is straight to Graham Stack's hands.

17' Seityasen Singh with a good run and some good dribbling skills from him. But nothing comes of that as Rino Anto just stops his run.

14' And yet again, the pace of the game has slowed down. Neither side seemed to have adjusted well so far.

9' Jhingan and Belfort combining well from the right hand side. Ishfaq also doing well. The home side might have just pressed the attacking mode button now!

7' Calculated play so far. Neither side is going for the kill just yet. Goalless after 7 minutes.

4' SHOT! Belfort from the left wing takes a shot on goal and it's just saved by Rehenesh!

3' Evenly shared possession so far. Midfield is the region the ball has mostly hovered so far. But, the play has got a little bit physical. Kerala Blasters' Ishfaq really needs to calm down.

1' Oh Dear! Ishfaq Ahmed getting into a scuffle already. Got to calm things down...

KICKOFF IS HERE! THE GAME GETS UNDERWAY FROM A SOLD OUT STADIUM IN KOCHI...

6:58 pm IST: Hold on to your seats. National anthem sung, kickoff update coming in a moment......

6:55 pm IST: The players are out in the pitch for the one last time in the ISL 2016 league phase. The showdown, after tonight, moves to the semi finals....

6:45 pm IST: Less than 15 minutes to go for the match to kick off, here are some important info coming your way:

Here's how you can watch the game

Team news ahead of the game

How Kerala Blasters got into this crucial showdown

6:38 pm IST: There's a major update coming from the NorthEast United FC camp that will not be a good news at all for the away side. 

Velez has been replaced by Wellington Priori in the lineup.

6:30 pm IST: Here's a live video from the JLN Stadium Kochi that is sure to uplift your mood!

6:20 pm IST: NorthEast United FC needed to win against Delhi Dynamos in their last ISL 2016 game and they did that with elan. Determined to make it to the semis, a win again will take them to their maiden ISL semis. A draw however, ends their season in the league phase!

6:15 pm IST: Who said the away fans would find no place in the sea of Kerala Blasters fans?

6:12 pm IST: Pictures say a million words! Here are the live pictures coming from Kochi...

6:08 pm IST: Let the drums roll! The starting lineups are here...

Kerala Blasters XI: Stack; Jhingan, Hengbart, Hughes (C), Rino Anto; Mahamat, Ishfaq; Vineeth, Duckens, Rafi; Belfort.

NorthEast United XI: Rehenesh; Nirmal, Mailson, Zokora (C), Gurung; Borges; Seityasen, Katsumi, Romaric, Velez; Alfaro.

6:05 pm IST: NorthEast United FC coach Nelo Vingada has termed the game as a World Cup final. If an experienced football manager has such things to say about the intensity of the game, this does give us no option but to plain and simple, witness the match.

The all-important announcements from the match coming to you in a bit...

6 pm IST: Hello everyone, welcome to International Business Times, India's coverage of ISL 2016. This is me Sayantan (twitter @san_footy) as always! Okay guys, this match between Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United, scheduled to get under way from Kochi at 7 pm IST, is simply put, UNMISSABLE!

It's definitely the biggest match in the football world this weekend after the El Clasico, which turned out to be a draw on Saturday. Indian football is slowly reaching that level, and you have got to realise the fact!

So, like always guys, join me for all the updates and coverage from the match as we get to find out in some hours which four teams make it to the ISL 2016 semi finals. Will it be Kerala Blasters? Will it be NorthEast United FC? Tune in to this page for all the information you need...