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I-League: Late Yakubu Header Gives Clinical East Bengal Win Over Sporting
A case of same old, same old, for Sporting Clube de Goa...
03-Feb-2010 6:04:00 PM
By Atishay Agarwal
Sporting Clube de Goa endured yet another defeat in the league, as they went down 1-0 to East Bengal in Goa on Wednesday. The hosts dominated the game for the first hour, but East Bengal ended the match much stronger, and scored through Yusif Yakubu with five minutes remaining. EB midfielder Alvito D'Cunha was named Man of the Match.
East Bengal named an unchanged line up from their last game, with Alvito and Hammond both starting in midfield, while Sporting fielded Felix D'Souza in goal, and the tried and tested combination of Amos and Junior up front. Bibiano started in midfield.
The first shot of the game came for the home side, who got into their passing groove quickly, and Bisheshwor Singh cut in from the right to unleash a wicked left footer, which sailed just over the bar.
East Bengal were relatively quiet in the opening few minutes, but a superb one two between Alvito and Bhaichung sent the former through on goal in the 12th minute, but Felix came up with a fantastic save to deny the midfielder. A couple of minutes later, Alvito curled in a dangerous cross from the right, but Yakubu could only head it over.
Sporting though, continued to play their game, and their intricate passing play brought about another chance in the 19th minute, as Amos' lay off for Junior just inside the box saw the skipper try to side foot past Abhra Mondal, but it was straight at the keeper.
The home side began putting a bit more pressure on East Bengal thereafter, and came close in the 25th minute as Amos turned into fire a loose ball towards goal at a corner, but Abhra Mondal got down to save well.
Amos, who endured a frustrating afternoon, was getting a few half chances from distance, but missed one clear cut opportunity in the 35th minute, as Nicholas Rodrigues curled in a fantastic cross into the box over Mehrajuddin Wadoo. He could even have volleyed home from 12 yards, but chose to stoop and head it in, and sent his weak effort wide.
However, neither side could create much in the last ten minutes in the half, as Sporting still looked the better side going forward.
The home side continued to dominate after the break, and Junior squandered another great chance five minutes into the second half, as he dragged his shot from Nicholas Rodrigues' lay off just wide of the far post, with Abhra Mondal scrambling.
And all their profilgacy almost cost them at the hour mark, as Beiokhokhei slipped a ball through for Yakubu in a one on one position, but just as the Ghanaian was about to pull the trigger, Mathew Gonsalves tracked back and made a superb tackle, also denying Bhaichung as he sprinted in to pounce on the loose ball.
A minute later, Abel Hammond, who was quiet all day, trailed off at the far post into a bit of space and got his header in after a cross from the right, but the angle was too tight, and the ball looped up, bounced on the top of the bar, and went out.
The Kolkata side were growing in confidence as the game progressed into the last fifteen minutes, while Sporting's players weren't in sync anymore, although Junior did manage to get in an attempt on goal from distance with twelve minutes remaining, which went wide.
The visitors were largely profiting from coach De Ridder's substitution, which saw Sanju Pradhan replace Beiokhokhei in the center of midfield. The substitute got into the action again, as slipped through a neat through ball for Abel Hammond in the 80th minute, but the striker fired well over under pressure from Mathew Gonsalves.
It was coming, and East Bengal finally scored with five minutes of regulation time to go, through a superb move. Okpara sent in a lofted ball to the edge of the area for Nabi, who headed it on with his first touch to release Alvito inside the box. With Felix charging out to block him, Alvito chipped the ball across goal for Yakubu, who made a superb run to head it in.
Sporting shoulders dropped after the goal went in, and they hardly threatened their opponents for the last five minutes of regulation time.
However, they came close twice within a minute as injury time commenced, as Junior's 25-yard piledriver went out off the bar. Then, less than a minute later, a cross from the right floated in perfectly for Michael Tayo, but his header was collected down low by Abhra Mondal.
And that was to be as close as the home side got, as they suffered yet another defeat, and are still without a win in the league, and lie at the bottom of the pile. East Bengal move up to 6th, but might be overtaken if Pune beat Mahindra later in the day.
Goalscorer:
East Bengal - Yusif Yakubu (85')
East Bengal named an unchanged line up from their last game, with Alvito and Hammond both starting in midfield, while Sporting fielded Felix D'Souza in goal, and the tried and tested combination of Amos and Junior up front. Bibiano started in midfield.
The first shot of the game came for the home side, who got into their passing groove quickly, and Bisheshwor Singh cut in from the right to unleash a wicked left footer, which sailed just over the bar.
East Bengal were relatively quiet in the opening few minutes, but a superb one two between Alvito and Bhaichung sent the former through on goal in the 12th minute, but Felix came up with a fantastic save to deny the midfielder. A couple of minutes later, Alvito curled in a dangerous cross from the right, but Yakubu could only head it over.
Sporting though, continued to play their game, and their intricate passing play brought about another chance in the 19th minute, as Amos' lay off for Junior just inside the box saw the skipper try to side foot past Abhra Mondal, but it was straight at the keeper.
The home side began putting a bit more pressure on East Bengal thereafter, and came close in the 25th minute as Amos turned into fire a loose ball towards goal at a corner, but Abhra Mondal got down to save well.
Amos, who endured a frustrating afternoon, was getting a few half chances from distance, but missed one clear cut opportunity in the 35th minute, as Nicholas Rodrigues curled in a fantastic cross into the box over Mehrajuddin Wadoo. He could even have volleyed home from 12 yards, but chose to stoop and head it in, and sent his weak effort wide.
However, neither side could create much in the last ten minutes in the half, as Sporting still looked the better side going forward.
The home side continued to dominate after the break, and Junior squandered another great chance five minutes into the second half, as he dragged his shot from Nicholas Rodrigues' lay off just wide of the far post, with Abhra Mondal scrambling.
And all their profilgacy almost cost them at the hour mark, as Beiokhokhei slipped a ball through for Yakubu in a one on one position, but just as the Ghanaian was about to pull the trigger, Mathew Gonsalves tracked back and made a superb tackle, also denying Bhaichung as he sprinted in to pounce on the loose ball.
A minute later, Abel Hammond, who was quiet all day, trailed off at the far post into a bit of space and got his header in after a cross from the right, but the angle was too tight, and the ball looped up, bounced on the top of the bar, and went out.
The Kolkata side were growing in confidence as the game progressed into the last fifteen minutes, while Sporting's players weren't in sync anymore, although Junior did manage to get in an attempt on goal from distance with twelve minutes remaining, which went wide.
The visitors were largely profiting from coach De Ridder's substitution, which saw Sanju Pradhan replace Beiokhokhei in the center of midfield. The substitute got into the action again, as slipped through a neat through ball for Abel Hammond in the 80th minute, but the striker fired well over under pressure from Mathew Gonsalves.
It was coming, and East Bengal finally scored with five minutes of regulation time to go, through a superb move. Okpara sent in a lofted ball to the edge of the area for Nabi, who headed it on with his first touch to release Alvito inside the box. With Felix charging out to block him, Alvito chipped the ball across goal for Yakubu, who made a superb run to head it in.
Sporting shoulders dropped after the goal went in, and they hardly threatened their opponents for the last five minutes of regulation time.
However, they came close twice within a minute as injury time commenced, as Junior's 25-yard piledriver went out off the bar. Then, less than a minute later, a cross from the right floated in perfectly for Michael Tayo, but his header was collected down low by Abhra Mondal.
And that was to be as close as the home side got, as they suffered yet another defeat, and are still without a win in the league, and lie at the bottom of the pile. East Bengal move up to 6th, but might be overtaken if Pune beat Mahindra later in the day.
Goalscorer:
East Bengal - Yusif Yakubu (85')
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