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I-League Round 17 Review: Where Is It Heading?
Goal.com reviews the action from round 17 of the I-League where most of the results were surprising.
02-Mar-2009 7:25:33 AM
This round saw only five matches being played as Dempo tried
their luck to enter the AFC Champions League but unfortunately couldn’t. Former
league leaders Mohun Bagan were also out of action as their scheduled game
against the defending champions was postponed.
Who would have thought Sporting Clube De Goa would drop points at home while the same holds true for East Bengal in a game of two halves. In fact the latter was so surprising that none could believe that Mohammedan Sporting were leading 2-0 at half time.
The first match saw a confident Churchill Brothers riding high on the 9-1 victory over Vasco SC face JCT at Ludhiana. Though the Punjab side haven’t done well this season, on home ground they are the kings. It all started with Jagpreet Singh scoring through a stunning free-kick which was described by the Churchill coach as ‘world -class’.
It once again took captain Odafa Okolie to provide the equaliser and thereby have an assist in the winner.
JCT find themselves in deep trouble with only five matches to go and need to garner some crucial points as they are in danger of plunging down to the second division. The goals haven’t been coming and the sooner they find a solution to this, the safer they would feel. They next host Air India and shall back themselves to get full points against the Mumbai club.
Churchill Brothers have taken a crucial step towards winning their first league title. Winning against JCT away after being a goal down takes a lot of character to comeback which the Goan side put a fine display of. They are just two points behind league leaders Sporting Clube De Goa and are one of the favourites to grab the trophy. It’s Mohun Bagan or fellow title challengers they face next and it shall surely be one of the most crucial games of the season for both clubs.
With Churchill winning away, there was pressure on Sporting Clube De Goa, who played the following day and, did just enough to eke out a draw against a sturdy Chirag United who have come a long way in the second phase of the league.
The absence of striker Junior Elijah was always going to hurt and it did indeed. The ‘Flaming Oranje’ must be credited for scoring twice in his absence. The defenders forgot what they had been doing in the last 16 rounds which helped them to have the best defensive record in the league. Dropping two points at home won’t be easy and they could possibly even lose their top spot after just a week of regaining it.
Meanwhile, Chirag United have made their case stronger of remaining in the league next season as well and those backing them to go down shall have to remain quite for sometime.
Over to Mumbai and the derby between Mumbai FC and Air India saw the two share the spoils. The refereeing, as always, was atrocious and the two coaches didn’t hide their feelings about the same.
It was a game where both sides had their chances though Air India never had a clean shot on goal. Felix Aboagye was the guilty man for Mumbai FC for missing three opportunities which were similar while Soccor Velho of Air India made his mark as well by missing by some sitters. The script of the game went as expected as both sides haven’t had a great second phase in the league.
East Bengal were flying high after the emphatic victory over Mohun Bagan and why not? They had won convincingly after a long time and broke the jinx against their arch rivals. But once the success goes into the head, then there’s always a problem which is what plagued the Red and Gold’s.
In the first session, they were nowhere and had no clue as to what had hit them. In no time, Mohammedan Sporting shot into lead and very soon doubled it. After the break, East Bengal came on their own and played much better.
Once again the man of the moment was Renedy Singh who engineered their revival. It was his cornerkick that led to Nirmal Chhetri pulling one back and he showed great presence of mind by releasing Surkumar on the right from a dead ball situation after seeing that everyone had taken their positions inside the box which led to the equaliser. Their fans must thank the Manipuri for putting on an inspired display and thus lifting the spirit of his team. East Bengal are still very volatile and need to be consistent.
Mohammedan Sporting shall rue themselves for squandering a brilliant opportunity to snap three points and thus come on level with JCT. The relegation battle would have been much more interesting though it still is.
The final game of the round was a challenge for Mahindra United to score after three winless games at Cooperage as they faced Vasco SC. The Goan side’s confidence and morale was low and one could see that the team had lost all hope.
36 minutes gone and the Jeepmen were 3-0 up. After half-time, they scored another and should have gone for the kill which sadly never happened.
The title of this piece is ‘Where is it heading’. The battle at the top, middle and the bottom is very open. Only thing destined is Vasco SC going down and though they still have a mathematical chance of surviving but none would be willing to place a bet on them.
Rahul Bali.
Who would have thought Sporting Clube De Goa would drop points at home while the same holds true for East Bengal in a game of two halves. In fact the latter was so surprising that none could believe that Mohammedan Sporting were leading 2-0 at half time.
The first match saw a confident Churchill Brothers riding high on the 9-1 victory over Vasco SC face JCT at Ludhiana. Though the Punjab side haven’t done well this season, on home ground they are the kings. It all started with Jagpreet Singh scoring through a stunning free-kick which was described by the Churchill coach as ‘world -class’.
It once again took captain Odafa Okolie to provide the equaliser and thereby have an assist in the winner.
JCT find themselves in deep trouble with only five matches to go and need to garner some crucial points as they are in danger of plunging down to the second division. The goals haven’t been coming and the sooner they find a solution to this, the safer they would feel. They next host Air India and shall back themselves to get full points against the Mumbai club.
Churchill Brothers have taken a crucial step towards winning their first league title. Winning against JCT away after being a goal down takes a lot of character to comeback which the Goan side put a fine display of. They are just two points behind league leaders Sporting Clube De Goa and are one of the favourites to grab the trophy. It’s Mohun Bagan or fellow title challengers they face next and it shall surely be one of the most crucial games of the season for both clubs.
With Churchill winning away, there was pressure on Sporting Clube De Goa, who played the following day and, did just enough to eke out a draw against a sturdy Chirag United who have come a long way in the second phase of the league.
The absence of striker Junior Elijah was always going to hurt and it did indeed. The ‘Flaming Oranje’ must be credited for scoring twice in his absence. The defenders forgot what they had been doing in the last 16 rounds which helped them to have the best defensive record in the league. Dropping two points at home won’t be easy and they could possibly even lose their top spot after just a week of regaining it.
Meanwhile, Chirag United have made their case stronger of remaining in the league next season as well and those backing them to go down shall have to remain quite for sometime.
Over to Mumbai and the derby between Mumbai FC and Air India saw the two share the spoils. The refereeing, as always, was atrocious and the two coaches didn’t hide their feelings about the same.
It was a game where both sides had their chances though Air India never had a clean shot on goal. Felix Aboagye was the guilty man for Mumbai FC for missing three opportunities which were similar while Soccor Velho of Air India made his mark as well by missing by some sitters. The script of the game went as expected as both sides haven’t had a great second phase in the league.
East Bengal were flying high after the emphatic victory over Mohun Bagan and why not? They had won convincingly after a long time and broke the jinx against their arch rivals. But once the success goes into the head, then there’s always a problem which is what plagued the Red and Gold’s.
In the first session, they were nowhere and had no clue as to what had hit them. In no time, Mohammedan Sporting shot into lead and very soon doubled it. After the break, East Bengal came on their own and played much better.
Once again the man of the moment was Renedy Singh who engineered their revival. It was his cornerkick that led to Nirmal Chhetri pulling one back and he showed great presence of mind by releasing Surkumar on the right from a dead ball situation after seeing that everyone had taken their positions inside the box which led to the equaliser. Their fans must thank the Manipuri for putting on an inspired display and thus lifting the spirit of his team. East Bengal are still very volatile and need to be consistent.
Mohammedan Sporting shall rue themselves for squandering a brilliant opportunity to snap three points and thus come on level with JCT. The relegation battle would have been much more interesting though it still is.
The final game of the round was a challenge for Mahindra United to score after three winless games at Cooperage as they faced Vasco SC. The Goan side’s confidence and morale was low and one could see that the team had lost all hope.
36 minutes gone and the Jeepmen were 3-0 up. After half-time, they scored another and should have gone for the kill which sadly never happened.
The title of this piece is ‘Where is it heading’. The battle at the top, middle and the bottom is very open. Only thing destined is Vasco SC going down and though they still have a mathematical chance of surviving but none would be willing to place a bet on them.
Rahul Bali.
Inside Goal.Com
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