Bengaluru FC 1-1 Mohun Bagan: Mariners are the I-League champions
The Kolkata outfit earned a point against Bengaluru FC, a result which ensured that the I-League title is finally headed to the City of Joy…
Mohun Bagan have won their maiden I-League title, courtesy of their 1-1 draw against Bengaluru FC in their final game of the 2014-15 season at the Kanteerva Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday evening.
John Johnson opened the scoring in the 41st minute before Bello Rasaq scored the equaliser in the 86th minute to break the hearts of the assembled Bengaluru fans.
Ashley Westwood chose to bench Sunil Chhetri and hand a chance to Udanta Singh to be a part of their three pronged attack alongside Sean Rooney and Robin Singh.
Sanjoy Sen roped in Dhanachandra Singh into the first team with Sukhen Dey bring left out.
Udanta’s pace was too much to deal for the Bagan defense as Kingshuk Debnath fouled the former on the edge of the box. However, Rooney’s left footed effort went sailing over the bar in the third minute.
The 18-year-old Manipuri sent in an inch perfect cross from the right but the opportunity went begging as neither Rooney nor Robin were well placed to get to the end of it.
Dhanachandra Singh then created the first chance for the visitors as his cross from inside his own half saw Pierre Boya head it goalwards with Lalchuammawia Ralte collecting it in time.
The play was restricted primarily in the midfield with Bengaluru doing well to close down the likes of Yusa and Norde each time the Bagan duo were on the ball.
The crossbar came to Bengaluru’s rescue in the 40th minute when Shankar Sampingiraj gave away the ball cheaply. Norde’s effort from the edge of the box had Ralte beaten all ends up but the shot came off the crossbar.
The very next minute, Lyngdoh’s header from a Rino Anto cross was deflected out for a corner by Sehnaj Singh.
The breakthrough came in the 41st minute as John Johnson rose highest and buried his header from a Lyngdoh corner-kick into the far post to send the home fans into delirium.
Johnson ensured that the home side kept their lead intact as he made a goal-line clearance in the stoppage time. This was after Norde played a short pass for Yusa who squared it for Balwant who had the entire goal at his mercy. However, his team effort from close range was cleared by Johnson with Norde’s shot on the rebound being blocked.
Just four minutes after the break, Boya failed to hit the target as his shot went over the crossbar after Shouvik Chakraborty did well to carve open the home team’s defense.
After the hour mark, Balwant was free on the right and he pulled it back for the onrushing Yusa who wasn’t able to make a proper contact with Ralte making an easy save.
Bagan failed to show any urgency to score the equalizer as Bengaluru FC did well to close down their opponents. Lyngdoh and Walker ran the show in the midfield as Sehnaj Singh and Shouvik struggled throughout.
Bengaluru FC should have earned a penalty in the 75th minute as Robin Singh was through on goal but Paul came off his line and fouled the striker. However, referee Santhosh Kumar chose to ignore Bengaluru’s appeals.
At the other end, Norde cut inside from the left and slammed his effort which produced an important save from Ralte.
It took 82 minutes for Sen to make his first change he introduced Jeje Lalpekhlua in place of the listless Balwant Singh.
Ralte kept Bengaluru in the tie as he denied Dhanachandra from a Yusa corner-kick. In the following flag-kick by Norde, Bello Rasaq headed home to score the elusive equalizer in the 86th minute.
Bengaluru FC did string together a couple of attacks in the final minutes but Bagan held their fort together to earn a well deserved draw.
Sporting Clube de Goa 4-0 Pune FC: Flaming Oranje to
burn on in the I-League after commanding win
A commandeering win over Pune FC saw the relegation threatened Sporting Goa canter to I-League survival, with Odafa shining with a hattrick..
Sporting Goa assured themsleves I-League status for another season as they romped to a 4-0 win over theRed Lizards of Pune FC. A hattrick from Odafa Okolie with goals in the first and second half, sandwiched a Sandesh Jhingan strike as the Goans assured themselves of top-flight status for another year.
The hosts, led by Mateus Costa, headed into this relegation survival test making just a solitary change from their loss to Mohun Bagan. Anthony Wolfe dropped out to accomodate Cajetan Fernandes.
Pune FC, under the tutelage of Gift Raikhan (taking charge of the team in the absence of gaffer Karim Bencherifa), made just one change to their starting eleven too, as they put in Salaam Ranjan Singh in place of Zohmingliana Ralte, who scored in their win over Shillong Lajong last time around.
The Flaming Oranje drew first blood as Jhingan launched a long ball to the attack, which was capitalized on by Odafa. The Nigerian twisted and turned earning some space in the box before shooting straight at an onrushing Amrinder Singh, who blocked the ball just in time, as defenders dived all around him. It was a premonition of the onslaught his goal would face however, as both teams looked to settle down early. Six minutes later, Pune FC hung into the ledge again, as somehow Creson Antao of all people found himself with a shooting chance on the edge of the box, as his shot was just wide of the target.
Then came the chance of the match, arguably for the visitors. Arata earned a foul on the left, which allowed the Indian international to send a curler into the box. Thongkhosiem Haokip found himself in a pocket of space right in front of goal, however, the Manipuri attacker could only deflect his shot off his right foot, to keeper Ravi Kumar, as he sought to dispatch the chance on the volley. Sporting Goa went close at the opposite end as Brandon Fernandes' excellent cross saw Mahmoud Al Amna head wide.
However just a minute later, in the 26th minute, the game took a seismic turn. Attacker Alber Gonsalves received a ball on the left by Odafa and tricked Srikanth Ramu, who could only foul the youngster inside the box, giving away a penalty. He was booked in the process and offered no complaints, as Sporting Goa's striker Odafa stepped up and converted to send the Goan faithful in raptures as the home team could taste survival. Although Amrinder Singh got a glove onto the ball, he could scarcely stop the well placed shot. Odafa, then had a tame shot from the edge of the box which went straight to Amrinder, as Sporting continued to attack.
Al Amna then missed a sitter. The Sporting attacker saw the ball come to him, unmarked in the box, after a neat pass by Brandon Fernandes. He took his time sizing up the goal behind an onrushing Singh and somehow, luckily for the keeper, the Syrian smashed his ball off the goalkeeper for a corner. It was a glorious chance missed for the Oranje. Then, just a minute later, Sobrasa, the veteran Brazilian saved Pune's skin. Al Amna and Fernandes combined on the right as the young attacker skipped in behind the Pune defense after being played in by the Syrian. However, as Brandon unleashed his shot, but it was blocked out by Sobrosa the experienced campaigner.
Things would get better for the hosts though, immediately. Brandon Fernandes sent in a great ball into the box, which missed everyone at the near post. However, Jhingan at the centre chested the ball and looped it onto the left hand post of Amrinder. The ball deflected in off the post and into goal, doubling the lead for the Goans, as scenes of jubilation burst out for the home team.
Then, hardly 40 seconds later, Odafa had the Red Lizards' hearts in their mouths. A brilliant run by the Nigerian saw a quick one-two exchanged with Al Amna on the left, as he shifted into the box, leaving the Pune defenders behind. He beat the keeper with a superb shot with his right foot, but it hit the post and rebound along the line, for Pune FC to gather their thoughts and clear.
Al Amna was at the centre of another attack as he backheeled a brilliant ball sent to him by Brandon, to Odafa. Sadly, the ball was miscued and a chance was wasted as the first half concluded.
The second half saw Pune FC with the first chance of the half. Nikhil Kadam a second half substitute, slipped into an intuitive run, which saw him slip a ball into the Japanese campaigner Sueoka, who made keeper Ravi save to his left, and earn a corner.
Al Amna and Odafa then combined well to send the Syrian into the box, yet, Amna's reverse to Brandon, on the edge, wasn't good enough. Pune FC then had a barrage of crosses turned away by the Sporting defense before the hosts nailed the killer blow to the tie. Odafa was at the double as the Nigerian was handed the ball on a platter by Al Amna. He easily outmuscled the flogging Salaam Ranjan Singh and headed into the box, all clear. Veering past a diving Amrinder Singh and coolly slotted home from the right as he ensured Sporting trotted into the distance and to I-League safety.
A moment of controvery then erupted over the pitch as the game seemd to be going to a dull end. Odafa looped the ball over the Brazilian Sobrosa in the 81st minute, on the edge of the box and chased after it. Seeing danger Sobrosa slapped the ball away with his hand, leading the referee to award a freekick on the edge of the box. No cards we given though as Sobrosa could've easily been sent off. Brandon Fernandes took the free-kick from the edge of the box, which was punched away by Amrinder.
The tie seemed come alive at the end of the second half as first Mauvin Borges ran through on goal, on the left side smacking a goal towards the far post. However, an alert Amrinder thwarted the chance after getting down well and saving. At the other end, Fanai Lalrempuia, another second half substitute for Pune FC, saw his shot graze the post as it went out for a goal-kick.
To add misery to Pune's day they then immediately conceded a fourth. The Goan's hitman, Odafa, recevied an excellent over the top ball in the Pune FC box. He unshackled himself from the defender, Salaam Singh, twisting and turned in the box, avoiding the keeper's stagnant gaze, before taking a powerful shot into the roof off the net, past two covering defenders and the keeper himself, Amrinder.
Odafa's hattrick was a cherry on top of the cake for the Nigerian icon, whose contribtions stirred the Goans to safety as the referee blew for the end of the game. The win saw Sporting launch themselves to 24 points, five clear of the relegated Dempo SC, who dropped out of the I-League on the basis of a loss to Salgaocar. It didn't matter to Costa though, who was full of joy as the Flaming Oranje assured themselves of burning on in the top flight for another year.
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