I-League round 22 started off with 3 pointsAi??separatingAi??second placed East Bengal from the fourth placed Pune FC and it ended withAi??3 pointsAi??separatingAi??second placed East Bengal from the sixth placed Churchill. It was yet another action packed round with 6Ai??excitingAi??matchesAi??beingAi??played. The twoAi??bottomAi??placed teams – Arrow and HAL wereAi??missingAi??from the action with their match being postponed because of the unfortunate death ofAi??Venkatesh, a player from the local Bangalore league.
The round 22 kicked off in Kolkata where East Bengal welcomed relegation-threatened Mumbai FC with both teams needing a win, but forAi??differentAi??reasons. Ai?? Nichlous Rodrigues stunned the home fans when he put Mumbai FC into the lead after some sloppy defending from the Red and Golden brigade wherein they failed to clear a long thrown-in. Spurred Ai??on by the home crowd, East Bengal attacked with real zealAi?? and were rewarded in the 21st minute when Tolgey converted from the spot. Robin scored a beauty of a goal in the 25th minute to put the home team ahead at the half time. East BengalAi??finishedAi??off the match in the 87th minute when substitute Edmilson headed in from a Mehtab Hossain corner to ensure all three points for the home team.
The first match on day 2 between Shillong and Sporting was aAi??lacklusterAi??affair with Shillong going down 1-0 to Sporting in front of a full house at the Nehru stadium, Shillong. Indian International Adil Khan score the only goal in the 70th minute as the Shillong Ai??forwards including Suhil Kumar were guilty of missing several easy chances.Ai??Matthew Osvaldo Mayora of Shillong unleashed a powerful shot in the 77th minute that hit the bar but Shillong could not find a breakthrough. With 34 points from 22 outings Sporting are on their way to achieve their target of a top 5 finish.
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Salgaocar vs Air-India.
In an evening kick-off at the Nehru Stadium Fatorda, Ai??Salgaocar edged past Air-India 1-0 Ai??with the JapaneseAi??play-makerAi??Ryuji Sueoka scoring from the spot in the 23rd minute whenAi??Nicolau Colaco was brought down in the box. Salgaocar midfieldersAi??particularlyAi??Francis Fernandes and Ishfaq Ahmed dominated the midfield and never allowed the Air-India players to settle down. Karanjit Singh had very little to do in the match with the Salgaocar defense, lead by captain Luciano SobrosaAi??holding a tight line. With this win the defending champions are only two points shy of the second placed East Bengal and will travel to Jordan with a lot of confidence for their AFC cup clash.
The much awaited clash between Mohun Bagan and Dempo started the proceedings on day 3. Ai??AAi??sizableAi??crowd had turned up for the match in anticipation of anAi??excitingAi??match and it indeed turned out to be so with end-to-end stuff throughout the match. Dempo were awarded a penalty in the 5th minute whenAi??Syed Rahim Nabi handled the ball in his own box and Ranty Martins converted coolly to stun the home fans.
The home fans were left wondering when Odafa missed a penalty in the 20th minute but he madeAi??amends 5 minutes later when he scored from a lovely pass by Indian skipper Sunil Chettri. Ai??Odafa – Chettri duo was proving too hot to handle for theAi??ageingAi??Dempo defense and in the 32 minute Odafa scored again; this time the provider being Jewel Raja.Ai??Dempo however hung and a tactical masterstroke from Armando when he brought on Joaquim Abranches for Clifford paid off when DempoAi??equalizedAi??in the 77th minute though Koko and it remained 2-2 at the final whistle.
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Dempo vs Mohun-Bagan : Probably the match of the season
Pune FC climbed up to third place in the table when they routed Chirg United 3-0 thanks to three first half goals fromAi??Mandjou Keita,Ai??Subhash Singh andAi??Arata Izumi. Pune FCAi??completelyAi??dominatedAi??the match with Keita scoring in the 5th minuteAi??Ai??with the assist coming from Subhash Singh. In the very next minute Subhash Singh score for Pune to make it 2-0 before Chirag could even settle down. The Pune FC midfield Ai??comprisingAi??ofAi??Venkatesh,Ai??Dhouhov Pierre and T. Karma created excellent chances for the Pune FC forwards. Chirag’ s best chance of the match came in the 73rd minute Ai??when Sunday’s header hit the woodwork.
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Churchill -Prayag match saw seven goals !!
In the last match of the round Churchill Brothers brought their campaign back on the track with a 5-2 demolition of Prayag United in Goa. Churchill’s forwards taught Prayag a footballing lesson, who were clearly missing Arnab Mondal in the defense. Midfielder Beto was back to hisAi??attackingAi??best and scored a brace to open the account for Churchill with the first coming from a header off a Denzil Franco cross.
Yakabu pulled one back for Prayag in the 43rd minute butAi??Sukhen Dey’s own goal meant Churchill went into the break leading 3-1. Goals from Henri Autchouet and Lalrindika Ralte gave Churchill a 5-1 lead before Joshimar reduced the margin to make it 5-2. With the win Churchill have leapfrogged Prayag in the league table and have 38 points with a game in hand.
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I-League Table
The I-League has thrown even the best of football pundits in frenzyAi??with such unpredictable results and with all to play for with just 4 rounds left, it is going to get more and moreAi??exciting. Dempo’ s comeback showed why they are being tipped as the next champions while the relegation battle between Chirag and Mumabi FC is going down to the wire. It will also be interesting to see how East-Bengal and Salgaocar deal with their AFC cup campaign in such a scenario. All in all an action packed month awaits the Indian football fans.
Match of the Week
The match between Bagan and Dempo played at the Salt-Lake stadium Kolkata was the match of the week with both teams dishing out a great football match. It was an end-to-end stuff from both the sides that had the crowd on its feet for the entire duration. Despite an afternoon kick-off the match was played at a fast pace and was perhaps one of the best I-League matches of all times. A 2-2 draw was perhaps a fair result to the match with Dempo coming from behind to make it 2-2 after having taken a 1-0 lead.
Goal of the Week
Robin Singh showed great maturity when he perfectly tapped a Baljit Sahni cross, dribbled past the defenders and slotted the ball past the Mumbai FC goalkeeper with his left foot. It was anAi??importantAi??goal for the Indian team hopeful as he looks to prove a point. The goal was also a crucial one for East Bengal as it put them 2-1 ahead.
Miss of the Week
Lajong captain andAi??Liberian international Menyongar dribbled past three Sporting defenders in the 29th minute but unfortunately shot over the goal with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Star of the Week
Odafa Okolie bailed out Bagan again with a superb brace against Dempo that put Bagan ahead in the first half itself. Odafa showed why he is one of the best strikers in India as he time and again troubled a tight Dempo defense which has been tough to breach in the I-League so far.
Flop of the Week
Bagan defense despite the presence of three Indian internationals Anwar Ali, Syed Rahim and Kingshuk Sarkar continued to struggle for the second straight time. Koko was left unmarked which resulted in the Dempo equalizer and loss of crucial points for Bagan.
