Day 59 and 60, Match 54, 55 and 56

• Kerala and Mumbai can qualify for the semifinals with a win but a draw will see both the teams out of the league. 
• As the Salt Lake Stadium hosts match no. 55, we witness the famous Kolkata vs Goa rivalry. Goa has already qualified for the knockouts and Kolkata can qualify even if the match ends in a draw.
• Neither Northeast nor Mumbai can qualify for the next stage. The result of the last match before the knockouts will only decide who will sit at the bottom of the table.

Kerala Blasters FC (1) - FC Pune City (0)

Formation: 4-4-2 and 4-3-1-2

Courtesy:ISL

For the first period of the game, it was Pune that lead the attack index with the help of their midfielder Mady. He was on charge, shaking the home team's defence, but couldn't score. The game changed when he produced an illegitimate tackle on Iain Hume. Kerala's favourite Canadian striker took the free kick. His curling ball touched Arindham's finger tips but finally landed at the bottom right corner of the net. The crowd went crazy! The visitors dominated the attack index for the entire first half of the game, with a huge difference, but it was Kerala that capitalised the only chance given to them. Pune were on attack even in the second half of the game. Soon, the home team took over. McAllister and Hume went searching for another goal but Arindham was quick to deny them. As the game progressed, the ownership of the attack index shifted from the visitors to the home side. Arindham's fault let Milagres acquire the ball. The Indian forward could have easily scored as the goal was unguarded but he sent it over the cross bar. James must have been infuriated with that. There was Eight minutes of added time! Katsouranis' cross to Ashutosh was blocked by Sandip (ouch!). These eight minutes tested Kerala's defence as Pune were continously attacking (attack index: 90% - 10%). At the end, Kerala won by a solitary goal.

Atletico de Kolkata (1) - FC Goa (1)

Formation: 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-1-2

Courtesy:ISL

Kolkata vs Goa and Fikru vs Gregory. As expected, the game started with some drama. Bengelloun intercepted Fikru's cross with his shoulder but the Ethiopian striker was adamant that it was a handball. The decision went against the home side. Baljit Sahni failed to exploit a defensive error made by the visitors. The home team successfully created pressure on the visitors with their play but like match 54, it was the weak team that scored first. Martins' shot was blocked by Borja but Edgar received it with ease and scored. The pressure shifted from Goa to Kolkata. The second half came with a corner for Kolkata which the home side failed to convert into a goal. Goa have a strong defence system. Baljit and Jewel in a tussle for the ball, pulling each other and a free kick was given to the visitors. Fikru, Garcia and Pody raised their team's attack index to 93% but could only score from a spot kick. Pinheiro brought down Fikru down and received a red card while giving away a penalty. The Ethiopian striker then, equalized the score. Pody and Fikru were fighting! The game ended with identical score and a Goan defender with a red card.

Northeast United FC (1) - Mumbai City FC (1)

Formation: 4-4-1-1 and 4-1-3-2

Courtesy:ISL

Kick off with hand ball for Mumbai and Free kick for Northeast. Both the teams put in equally appreciable efforts. The stats did not vary much. The highlights of the game were Deeepak's tackle on Josl that gave away a penalty to the Northeast which Koke scored, Didika's shot that beat the Keeper only to hit the pole and a late equalizer by Sushil for the home team. Mumbai had more ball possession but with a marginal difference. They had more on target shots and committed more fouls too.  The season concluded for both the teams with this match. Northeast occupies the last place and Mumbai occupies the second last position in the League with a deference of a lone point.

Courtesy:ISL

We have always extolled Kerala in our articles but we truly believe that this match belonged to Pune. Hume was fortunate to receive a free kick that changed the expected result. Kerala made it to the semi finals but Pune will definitely be remembered for the fight they put in. They dominated the entire game, except for one quadrant. it was hard to believe that they couldn't even equalize the score.
Kolkata have reached into the semi finals. After considering others' views, we realised that it is not only us who are not pleased with the tigers. There is no team spirit. The players fight amongst themselves and the coach is always vexed. Even if this team wins, we'll not be celebrating it (sorry Kolkata, but its is true!).