It's been a real pleasure bringing the game LIVE, and tell you what, the pace of the game was pure awesome. The champions lived up to their tag, and displayed brilliant football. Although Kerala Blasters tried their best, they just could not get the job done.
For any football fan who watched the game, this has been a real fruitful two hours. The best part -- there are more games to come this season.
But for now, this is me, Sayantan, signing off. Until next time, cyao.
THAT'S IT FULL TIME. Calatayud makes one last save to deny Vineeth. And another win for Atletico de Kolkata.
FINAL SCORE: KOLKATA 2-1 KERALA
90 [+4]' Rahul Bheke deserves plaudits for his show in the defence tonight.
90 [+2]' WHAT A SAVE! Calatayud makes a stunning save to deny Dagnall this time. What a day the Spaniard is having.
90' Additional time : 4 minutes.
89' OH DEAR! Homeboy Mehtab Hossain receives a second YELLOW, and he is SENT OFF. Bad bad night for the East Bengal medio.
86' Absolutely blazing run from Sanchez Watt there. Just cleared by the Kolkata defender. Sigh of relief for the home team.
84' Antoni Habas wants the attack to go on. Valdo brought on for Javi Lara.
82' WHAT A STUNNING SAVE! The Atletico de Kolkata goalkeeper pulling off one great parry of the ball there. Having said that, what a strike from Sanchez Watt. Momentum shifts to Kerala now.
80' GOALL!!! Dagnall gets one back for the visitors.
KOLKATA 2-1 KERALA
77' Sushil Singh replaces Nadong Bhutia.
Meanwhile, over 61,000 fans in the Salt Lake stadium have turned up for the game tonight.
76' Speculative attempt from Mehtab again, but again not close enough. So frustrating for them.
74' Nice build-up and interpasses from the visitors, but the attack fizzles out. Atletico de Kolkata are defending really deep.
69' Can CK Vineeth change the game for the visitors now? He replaces Saumik Dey.
63' We don't see that very often in football. Bheke's long throw-in caught by the Kolkata goalkeeper.
YELLOW card for Mehtab following a crunching challenge on Hume. What was that?
61' Kerala Blasters just can't get past this Kolkata defence at all.
58' Absolutely enthralling football from the home side. Meanwhile, Goan veteran midfielder Clifford Miranda comes on for Arata.
53' WHAT A GOAALLL!!! Javi Lara brilliantly bosses it there. Uses his dribbling prowess to get inside the box, and slots home neatly. A slight deflection from Ramage too.
KOLKATA 2-0 KERALA
49' YELLOW card for Ramandeeo for bringing Arata down. Free kick to Kolkata.
Lara takes it, and Hume's header just so high. Missed opportunity.
47' Desperate clearance by the Kerala defender Ramandeep to deny Arata from getting the ball.
46' And we're under way for the second half.
Victor Pulga has come on for Kerala, replacing Josu.
HALF TIME! Great display from the home side so far. Much crediti goes to Antonio Habas for building the team and making them play such beautiful and enthralling football. The second half is expected to hold on to the momentum. See you in a bit.
45' Additional time: 4 minutes.
44' Here we have the first YELLOW card of the night. Josu gets booked for a late challenge on Arata.
41' CHANCE! Horrible error from the Kolkata defender there. Bheke capitalises on the loose ball and plays it through to Dagnall inside the box. But the ball had too much pace on it for the striker to get control of.
40' SAVED! Decent freekick from Josu from outside the box, and a comfortable catch by Calatayud.
38' SHOT! Surprise attempt by Mehtab there. And Calatayud just palmed it out of play.
37' Peter Taylor looks completely frustrated there. Nothing has quite worked for his team so far.
34' SHOT! A speculative attempt from Javi Lara right from the edge of the box. Ball goes somewhere into the orbit.
32' SHOT! Sanchez Watt forces an easy save from Calatayud.
29' Borja goes for the spectacular. Lobs the ball from just outside the box, and it goes high and above the goal.
26' Will be very interesting to find Pele's analysis of the game so far.
24' Free kick to Kolkata. Javi Lara takes it. But a comfortable catch in the end from Bywater.
20' Total domination from the home side now. The interpasses, the build-up, and the distribution shows oodles of confidence.
16' Mehtab challenges Nadong just outside the edge of the box. Free kick to Kolkata.
A pure wasted opportunity.
15' Kerala are not being able to do much so far. A chance fell for Dagnall from Rahul Bheke's long throw-in inside the box, but that didn't turn out a real opportunity.
10' That's an interesting move by Peter Taylor. Ramandeep replaces Gurwinder so early in the game.
8' This is Arata's second opener for Kolkata in two straight ISL games this season. What a buy he has been! Meanwhile, the Japan-born midfielder injured himself a bit and he has been taped in the thigh.
6' GOALLL!!!!!! Arata Izumi gives the breakthrough to the home side. Hume forces a save from Bywater, but the loose ball is picked up by Izumi, and he BLASTS it!
KOLKATA 1-0 KERALA
5' CHANCE! Javi Lara goes for the spectacular from outside the box, and DEAR, that hit the crossbar and comes out.
3' Sanchez Watt doing well for the away side. A real intent being shown by them right from the start.
7 pm: And the first half is ON!
6:55 pm: An absolute buzzing atmosphere at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, and we see Nita Ambani take her seat beside the legend Pele. Five minutes to kick-off.
6:30 pm: Okay, so we have know the first 11 of each team tonight, and it is only unfortunate that ATK marquee player Helder Postiga misses his first home game. Let's wish him a speedy recovery.
Carlos Marchena also misses the game again for the away side.
KERALA BLASTERS XI: Bywater; Ramage, Gurwinder, Perone, Bheke; Saumik, Mehtab, Shankar, Josu; Sanchez, Dagnall.
ATLETICO DE KOLKATA XI: Calatayud; Denzil Franco, Nadong Bhutia, Mohanraj, Jaime Gavilan; Borja Fernandez, Jose Miguel, Arata Izumi, Augustine Fernandez, Javi Lara; Hume.
6:10 pm: Let's get some pictures coming in from the venue:
6 pm: The Indian Super League is back after a much-needed day of break, and have we got a cracker on hand today!
The action shifts to the the monumental Salt Lake Stadium in the City of Joy -- the Mecca of Indian football -- as it hosts the Atletico de Kolkata versus Kerala Blasters, the two finalists of ISL 2014.
Join me, Sayantan Maitra (twitter @san_footy), for all the live updates from the mouthwatering clash, which will take place right in front of the eyes of football king and legend Pele. The kick-off is just an hour to go, and the excitement is already building!
