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Churchill Brothers 2 - 2 Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan came into this game with several changes to the starting eleven. The game did not spark into life until the 25th minute when skipper Bhaichung Bhutia tested the Churchill custodian Vinay Singh.
After that it was all Churchill as they laid the Bagan goal at siege but could not score owing to some poor finishing and good defending by Mohun Bagan. Peter Odafe was particularly impressive marking the ever dangerous Odafa Okolie.
After the break Mohun Bagan immediately upped the tempo and a sweet move down the left saw some neat passes being exchanged between Mohan Raj and Baretto. Baretto passed for Bhaichung whose shot was parried by Singh and Dharamjit pounced to score.
In the 52nd minute all the good work done by Mohan Raj for the first goal was undone by his late lunge on Odafa Okolie. The referee promptly sent him off. Bagan were reduced to 10 men.
Churchill made the advantage count as they restored parity in the 68th minute through Odafa. The goal was created by a good ball in by Vashum and Odafa made no mistake finishing the move off.
Bagan showed great resolve though and in the 71st minute Baretto found Bhutia with a superb cross, who duly nodded Bagan into the lead. The lead was short lived and within a minute Odafa found Iyomi who went past the Bagan defenders and to slot it past the keeper.
Inspite of some late attacks by Churchill, Bagan managed to see through the final few minutes and escaped with a point.
JCT 0-0 Dempo S.C
JCT faced a tough challenge in the form of defending champions Dempo. A win would see JCT leapfrog Dempo to the top of the I-League. The first half was a cagey affair with neither team creating clear cut opportunities. JCT’s Parveen Kumar had a great chance but a last minute clearance by an alert Samir Naik saved the day for Dempo.
The first chance for Dempo came when Ranty Martins headed over the crossbar in the 27th minute.
The second half was more or less the same as JCT forward Edu looked out of sorts and they were clearly missing the magic of Sunil Chettri who was suspended for this one. Dempo striker Joaquim Abranches, in for suspended Chidi Edeh, had a blazing right footer blocked by Karanjit Singh in goal for JCT.
Dempo missed the chance to increase their lead over the rest of the league though they still maintain their 2 point advantage.
Air India 1-0 East Bengal
The only victory in a round of draws in the I-League came for an unfancied Air-India side over the mighty East Bengal.
East Bengal were quicker off the blocks with Syed Rahim Nabi and McDonald Mukansi looking particularly impressive. Air India had a number of chances in the first half but poor finishing from striker Njoh Jean let them down. Later Paresh Shivalkar did well to cut in from the left flank and unleash a belter only to see the crossbar deny him. Subrata Pal heaved a sigh of relief.
The second half saw a change in the Airmen’s tactics as Basheeru played as a lone forward with Samson Singh moving to the right wing. Basheeru played well as a lone striker and managed to trouble the EB defence, holding the ball quite well.
He played an important part in the goal when he took down a ball by Sanju and passed it to the feet of Vijith who had made an excellent overlap. Vijith squared the ball which went pass everyone only to fall at the feet of Shivalkar who thumped the ball sweetly into the roof of then net.
The home crowd erupted. Even some changes to the tired team by Subrata Bhattacarya could not give East Bengal the impetus they needed. Thomte did extremely well to tighten the strings in midfield for Air India with Suley Musah and Amritpal Singh looking good in the air.
Air India looked the better side towards the end as a Samson shot whistled past the crossbar and some dazzling runs down the left by Shivalkar tormented the EB defense. At the end of the day it was a well deserved victory for Air India pulling them on level with East Bengal in the table.
Salgaocar Sports Club 0-0 Mahindra United
Mahindra came in to this fixture against Salgaocar at the Fatorda in Margao with an unchanged line-up from the side that beat Sporting Clube de Goa in round 5.
The first half was dull with neither side bold enough to go on an all out attack. The first chance came when Mahindra wideman Steven Dias was through down the right and chose to pass rather than shoot. The cross meant for Pomeyie Mensah was intercepted by Angelo Colaco for a Mahindra corner. This triggered a barrage of Mahindra attacks with Ajayan and Mensah at the end of a couple of these attacks.
Salgaocar keeper Milagrio Medeira saved a header by Bello Rasaq which turned out to be Mahindra’s last attack effectively.
Salgaocar created attacks of their own and Angelo Colaco saw an effort thunder off the crossbar and Felix failed to convert a half chance that came his way. An even contest culminating with the points shared.
Viva Kerala 0-0 Sporting Clube de Goa
The Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode was host to this sixth round encounter between new boys Viva Kerala and bottom side Sporting Clube de Goa.
The first chance of the match fell to Sporting’s Nigerian striker Elijah Obagbemiro who failed to beat Viva custodian Nelson on a one on one. The rebound fell to Mohammad Ghafari making his debut, who blazed his effort over the crossbar.
Viva’s first chance fell to Badmus Baba Thunde whose deflected shot off Micky Fernandes went out for a corner. Viva continued to mount the pressure as Sporting defended with 10 men in their own half.
A 34th minute scorcher by Bimanyu Bimal Barua from 30 yards was well met by Sporting custodian Luis Xavier Baretto. Satish Kumar also had a shot just wide of the post.
The second half saw the introduction of the young Shabaaz Shaleel as Viva continued from where they had left in the first half. Their chance came when Shaleel was brought down outside the box. The free kick by Ghanaian Awudu Adama scratched the crossbar.
Shaleel continued the good work switching from left to the right wing but the finishing was poor to say the least. A win would have put Viva third and given them a good chance to cut down the lead with JCT and Dempo cancelling each other out.
Meanwhile, Sporting have a lot of thinking to do unless they want to drop out of the top tier of Indian football.







source:goal.com