East Bengal And Mohun Bagan Fail To Inspire, Dempo Drop Points Against Air India

By Rahul Bhutani
12 years Ago

I LeagueAi??Round 20 –Ai??East BengalAi??andAi??Mohun BaganAi??failed to inspire with a goal less draw at the Salt Lake stadium, whileAi??Salgaocar trounced Shillong Lajong 2-0.Ai??DempoAi??lost to Air India 2-1, being unable toAi??capitalize on the slip up byAi??Churchill Brothers, who drew against Prayag 2-2.

East Bengal v Mohun Bagan

The Kolkata DerbyAi??was significant for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan out of different reasons. While the former are in the race for the title, Bagan find themselves struggling to avoid relegation – having been docked points for not turning up in the second half, the last time the two teams encountered each other. However, the much hyped match ended in a dull draw with both the teams showing restrain in their approach.

Mohun Bagan looked the better side in the first 30 mins as Odafa- Ai??Ai??hitting the post with a free kickAi??and Tolgay, troubled the East-Bengal defense. After the break it was a midfieldAi??battle, with both teams taking a cautious approach. Referring, was yet again the talking point of the derby, as theAi??MarinersAi??were livid at not being awarded the penalty, afterAi??the referee failed to spot a Uga Okpara handball.

Despite the draw, East-Bengal continue to lead the table thanks to the other title contenders dropping points. East Bengal however, Ai??have played two more matches than Churchill Brothers and Pune FC Ai??while one more match than Dempo.

Ai??A win in the derby could have taken the Red & Golds closer to the title but Trevor Morgan took a cautious approach, going into the derby. The side lacked creativity in the final third and the manger failed to come up with a Plan B, being unable to force themselves on the opposition. While Chidi Edeh and Penn Orji Ai??hardly complemented one another, Robin Singh and Manandeep Singh failed to do justice to their talents. With AFC cup coming up and key players from the club joining the national camp,going forwardAi??it is only going to get tough for East-Bengal. Realistically, their chances of lifting the I-League seems very remote.

Bagan, despite being at the bottom, would have fancied a win. A win in the derby would have Ai??not just have given them 2 more points but also the confidence to save relegation. Even last season, Bagan finished 4th but they edged the rivals in the derby encounters. With Salgaocar and Sporting Club de Goa winning last few of their matches, seemingly the relegation battle will be restricted between Lajong, United Sikkim and Air-India. Bagan are 6 points behind United Sikkim and 13 behind Lajong but they have 5 games in hand.

The selection of foreign players has been aAi??dilemmaAi??for Bencherifa – Ai??he can only play two of Tolgay, Odafa and Jacobs, Ai??assuming thatAi??Anyichie who was impressive in the derby, will notAi??start. The lack of quality Indian players hasn’t helped Bencherifa’ s cause either.Ai??Manish Bhargav was impressive playing upfront with Odafa and Tolgay in a 4-3-3 formation and the youngster will have a key role to play in Bagan’sAi??revival. Ai??If Ai??Mohun Bagan Ai??are to avoid the axe, they will have to start winning matchesAi??against theAi??big teams.

Salgaocar v Shillong Lajon

Salgaocar trounced Shillong Lajong 2-0 , taking a huge step in avoiding theAi??relegation. In a match that was a potential 6 pointer,Ai??new foreign recruits of Salgaocar impressed once again. Josimar headed inAi??John Wilkinson’s cross on 20th minute to give Greens a lead and Randeep Singh scored from a wonderfulAi??free-kickAi??to double their lead in the 40th minute. New JapaneseAi??recruitsAi??Taisuke Matsugae and Sho KamimuraAi??were impressive but failed to convert the chances. With this win, David Booth and his side moved towards safety while the problems have compounded for Lajong.

Mumbai FC v Pune FC

The third match of the day pipped 6th placed Mumbai FC against 5th placed Pune FC inAi??MaharashtraAi??Derby. Mumbai came intoAi??the match on a high Ai??while Pune FC had suffered a dip in their form. The first half was played at a high tempo and both sides had clearAi??opportunitiesAi??but the scoreAi??remainedAi??0-0 at half time. Controversy broke out close to the half-time as Pune FCAi??coachAi??Ai??Derrick Pereira and Mumbai FC playerAi??Abhishek Yadav had a war of words. James Moga was theAi??differenceAi??between the teams in the second half as he first headed in aAi??Paiteai??i??s cross in the 56 th minute to give his side a lead and then doubled it up in the 71st minute. Arata Izumi completed the proceedings with a wonderful goal from outside the box to make it 3-0 in the 84th minute.

Sporting Clube de Goa Ai??v Pailan Arrows

Day 2 began with Sporting club de Goa taking on Pailan Arrows and it was the Flaming Oranje who emerged out winners thanks to goalsAi??fromAi??Ogba Kalu andAi??Victorino Fernandes. After a barren first-half , where both sides had opportunities to score, it was Sporting who seized the initiative in the second half.Ai??Dawson Fernandes replaced aAi??lacklusterAi??Juanfri and it was his assist that set up Kalu for the opener in the 63rd minute.. As Arrows pressed hard for the equalizer,Ai??Victorino Fernandes took advantage of spaces in Arrows defense and unleashed a pile-driver from 25 yards out that beat the Arrows goalkeeper and put the Arrows fightback to rest. With this win Sporting took another step towards savingAi??relegation.

United Sikkim vAi??Ai??ONGC

In Sikkim it was heartbreak for the home side as they conceded a goal in the 90th minute after having dominated the entire game. The game marked the 8th occasion where the Snow Lions conceded points in the dying moments. New RecruitAi??striker Pablo Rodriquez Aracil and midfielder Steve Hayes were impressive with Hayes earning the man-of-match awardAi??on his debut. For ONGC it wasAi??Katsumi Yusa – Eric Brown combination that delivered once with Yusa setting up Brown for the only goal of the match.Ai??After the loss United Sikkim are firmly staring at relegation while ONGC sit pretty at 7th position.

Churchill Brothers v Prayag United

Churchill Brothers squandered the lead twice to allow Prayag a 2-2 draw in a match where Lalkamal Bhormick put in another Ai??impressive display and served out another timely reminder to national team coach Wim Koevermans.Ai??Akram Moghrabi scored the opener forAi??ChurchillAi??after confusion in the Prayag box while Ranti Martins equalized on stroke of the half time after Bhowmick had combined well withAi??Dhanachandra Singh. Beto restored the lead for the home side from the spot afterAi??Moghrabi was brought down but 3 minutes laterAi??Mohammed Rafique restored the parity. It was clear that Churchill were missing the influential Bilal in their defense and will need to sort out their back-four toAi??remainAi??in the title hunt.

Air India v Dempo SC

Nothing seems to be going right for defending champions Dempo at the moment as they failed to capitalize on slip-ups by Churchill and Ai??East-Bengal and went down 2-1 to Air-India at Pune. Dempo started without any recognized striker once again and found it tough to break a stubborn Air-India defense. A high tempo first half though remained goal-less.Ai??Prakash Thorat scored the opener just after the break while Henry Ezeh scored off a stunning volley to make it 2-0 for the airmen. Dempo tried hard with Armando ColacoAi??bringing on Koko and Romeo but it was too late.Ai??John Menyongar did score in the 84th minute and there were several close opportunities as well but it was curtains for the defending champions who now seem out of the title reckoning.

Categories: Indian Football
Tags: East Bengal Mohun Bagan

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