Churchill Brothers 2-3 Mohun Bagan: Odafa Okolie Comes Back To Haunt Manuel Gomes' Side

Mohun Bagan came back from Goa with all three points after a nail biting encounter in Margao against Churchill Brothers. With the victory Bagan remain three points adrift of leaders Dempo and level on points with second placed East Bengal while Churchill slip to fourth position.

Churchill had taken an early lead through youngster Lalrindika Ralte in the 4^th minute of the match itself, but were quickly pegged back by a Odafa Okolie goal for Mohun Bagan in the19^th minute. The match was a stalemate till the last quarter, when within two minutes the inspirational Odafa added two more goals ( 73^rd, 74^th  min ) for Bagan, including one from the penalty spot. A late reply from Henry Antchouet ( 81^stmin ) for Churchill wasn't enough and Bagan hung on to bag three precious points.

Manuel Gomes's side were hungry to exact revenge on the travellers for their 3-0 humbling at their hands at the Salt Lake Stadium and started positively, pressing Bagan to look for an early advantage. They were fortunate to get the lead within the first five minutes when a Steven Dias cross from the right flank found Mohammad Rafi who evaded his marker Anwar Ali easily before finding an unmarked Lalrindika Ralte inside the 6 yard box, who struck a sweet right foot shot past the Bagan custodian. The Bagan defense were all over the place.

Far from being pegged back by this early blow, Subrata Bhattacharya's men looked to snatch an equalizer with Odafa being the main man to launch Mohun Bagan's forays into the opposition half. Jewel Raja's fierce volley off a measured Odafa long ball needed the crossbar to prevent the Kolkatan outfit from levelling the match.

All the pressure finally paid off for Bagan, when in the 19th minute Syed Rahim Nabi's perfect cross was controlled on his chest by Odafa, who drilled a low shot past a diving Arindam Bhattacharya who had no chance, bringing the Mariners right back into the game

Odafa had another chance to put Mohun Bagan into the lead, but his long range piledriver could only be stopped by the crossbar after the Churchill goalie was well beaten.

Mohun Bagan had to wait till the 73rd minute, when a costly blunder from the Churchill custodian saw Odafa's tame effort roll past him and Mariners had a surprising albeit well deserved lead. Things became even worse for the Goan side when in the next minute, Barreto was brought down unfairly in the box by Denzil Franco, and Odafa converted the penalty with ease to give the Mariners a two goal cushion.

However, there was late drama as substitute Henry Antchouet scored for Churchill in the 81st minute to give them a glimmer of hope to get back into the match. However the match ended in favour of Mohun Bagan, with the visitors defense holding firm for the remaining part of the match.