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I-League Preview: Sporting Clube de Goa - JCT
A win for either side will boost their fight for survival
06-Apr-2010 10:17:00 PM
By Amoy Ghoshal
Kick-Off: 16:00 IST, Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Nehru Stadiun, Margao
Must Win Again
Bottom placed Sporting are in some decent form with just one defeat in their last six matches and two wins in their last three. But the Flaming Oranje need to keep on winning, especially against bottom half teams as they are still six points off safety with just seven games remaining.
Top scorer Junior Elijah is back in form but he must continue scoring as the rest of the team hasn’t done too well upfront. Young Adil Khan has been a revelation in central midfield and has a played a key role in Sporting’s revival. Overall Sporting are playing much better as a team now so coach Vishwas Gaonkar will be hoping for a good result.
Sporting are still the only side without a home win so they will be aiming to change that in this game. They also haven’t won back to back games this season therefore it will be interesting to see their attitude after beating Salgaocar in the last round. Sporting need a near perfect finish to avoid the drop so anything less than three points from this game will make their task even tougher.
Another Away Test
This will be JCT’s third consecutive away game in Goa and the way the last two matches went, coach Parminder Singh will not be confident. First they narrowly lost to Dempo but then in the last round they were hammered 6-0 by champions Churchill. The result took their goal difference to -5 and also raised question marks about their defence, which statistically was one of the best until that game.
JCT depend heavily on their three foreigners and Baljit Sahni for goals so when the opposition stop them it becomes very difficult for the club from Ludhiana. Therefore the likes of Balwant Singh and Jaswinder Singh have to perform much better. The defence also has to tighten up and not always rely on the heroics of goalkeeper Karanjit Singh.
JCT do have two consecutive home matches after this but three of their last four games of the campaign will be away so they cant rely on their home form as they are only two points above the bottom two. A win could be a massive result for them but even a draw could be priceless.
Form Guide
Sporting Clube de Goa
Salgaocar 1-3 Sporting Clube de Goa
Sporting Clube de Goa 1-2 Viva Kerala
Mohun Bagan 1-2 Sporting Clube de Goa
JCT
Churchill Brothers 6-0 JCT
Dempo 2-1 JCT
JCT 2-0 Mumbai FC
Team News
Sporting Clube de Goa
Striker Nathaniel Amos is still out with a hamstring injury while defender Samananda Singh has recoverd from a slight knock and is passed fit to start.
JCT
JCT have all their players available for this game.
Players To Watch
Sporting Clube de Goa – Junior Elijah
The Nigerian hasn’t been consistent this season but may have hit form at the right time with three goals in his last two matches. Junior can be a match winner on his day so Sporting will be hoping for a top performance from him.
JCT – Penn Orji
Penn has probably been JCT’s best player this campaign but he has struggled in recent matches which has affected his team’s results also. The midfielder will be aiming for an improved showing and if that happens, JCT have every chance of getting something from this.
Key Areas
Both teams don’t score too many goals so their strikers do need proper service from the midfield. Therefore the battle in the middle of the park will be crucial and the team that wins it is likely to take all three points.
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