FLAMING ORANJES BREEZE PAST NEWBIE BHARAT FC

OA: Sporting Clube de Goa kept their chances of survival after recording a 2-0 victory over Bharat FC in a Hero I-League encounter at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Saturday.

The win, thanks to goals in either half from Brandon Fernandes (42nd minute) and Prathesh Shirodkar (51st minute), saw Sporting Clube rise from the bottom of the pool above Bharat FC with 14 points from 16 matches. But they are still in the relegation zone as Bharat FC, newcomers in the league, are free from relegation for three years.

The win, though, will give Sporting Clube immense confidence that, much against the odds, they can survive relegation b accumulating more wins in the next four matches.

Sporting Clube, like their coach Mathew D’Costa had promised, played to win right from the word go and looked determined to get the right result. The hosts, though, could not penetrate the deep Bharat FC defence, who could have surged ahead in the 11th minute if not for the goalpost which saved a header from Subhash Singh before defender Miguel Garcia cleared it on the goal line.

Brandon was Sporting Clube’s most influential player and created plenty of problems for the rival defenders. He went close three times, including one close range effort, but the player who has been on trials with English Premier League clubs proved his class in the 42nd minute when he converted from a freekick, just outside the box.

Sporting Clube made it 2-0 in the 51st minute with Prathesh Shirodkar scoring a beautiful goal. He collected a ball from Chandradshekar Chinta from just outside the box and then weaved his way past two Bharat FC defenders before coolly slamming the ball into the top of the net.

Sporting Clube wasted two more chances in the next ten minutes as Anthony Wolfe first failed to beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation and then Victorino Fernandes slammed the ball wide from handshaking distance.

Bharat FC were lackluster and rarely troubled Sporting Clube. Subhash Singh had two chances at the start but was left to fend for himself upfront.

Sporting Clube de Goa kept their chances of survival after recording a 2-0 victory over Bharat FC in a Hero I-League encounter at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Saturday.

The win, though, will give Sporting Clube immense confidence that, much against the odds, they can survive relegation b accumulating more wins in the next four matches.

Bharat FC were lackluster and rarely troubled Sporting Clube. Subhash Singh had two chances at the start but was left to fend for himself upfront.

Bharat FC are now at the bottom of the league table.

SHILLONG LAJONG FC PIPS LISTLESS DEMPO SC

SHILLONG: An uninspired Dempo proved to be no match for Shillong Lajong FC, who cruised to a 3-0 victory in their Hero I-League clash at the JN Stadium here on Saturday.

Uilliams Souza Silva scored the opener, before Khelemba Meitei doubled the lead in the first half, with Cornell Glen scoring the third in the second session.

In front of a smallish crowd, the match took some time to really get going. The attention of the fans was piqued, however, when Boithang Haokip was brought down around six yards outside the box. Although it looked like he could be used to take the free kick, it was Uilliams who ultimately stepped up for the strike, which he pulled off with consummate ease, hammering it past the Dempo goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani.

Ten minutes later Glen steamed up the middle virtually unchallenged, but he pulled his shot wide of the net. This proved to be one of several near misses for the home team, who seemed to bedazzle the Goan team’s defence.

The Reds extended their lead to two goals following a corner in the 37th minute. Taken by Uilliams, the ball was neatly delivered into the box for Meitei to head it in for a goal on debut in Lajong colours.

In the next few minutes SLFC had a bundle of chances, with Uilliams striking the side netting, a corner being valiantly saved off the line by a defender and Glen having another go that Kattimani was able to collect.

Lajong were forced to make a first half substitution when Pritam Kumar Singh appeared to be injured after a tackle. He made way for Samuel Shadap; the two of them had a lot of responsibility with the injuries that kept Aiborlang Khongjee and Robin Gurung out of action.

However, Dempo coach went a couple of steps further when he made all three of his possible substitutions at half time, bringing in Tolgay Ozbey, Mandar Rao Desai and Peter Carvalho.

The game continued to go against Dempo, though, and it was mainly their fault. Just five minutes after the restart, Uilliams was fouled in the box and referee CR Srikrishna had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Dempo did not even protest all that much.

Glen stepped up for the spot kick and neatly converted it, giving him his 10th goal of the season.

Further disaster befell the visiting team when Nirmal Chettri managed to pick up two yellow cards withing a few minutes of each other and was subsequently sent off.

Dempo chances were few and far between. A solid defence by Lajong, in complete contrast to their performance in the last game against Salgaocar, saw them hold off the visitors, forcing long-range shots that were never a danger.

The closest they came to scoring was when Ozbey unluckily hit the post in the 86th minute, summing up Dempo’s day, one they will hope to put behind them as Lajong celebrate only their second victory at home.

I CARE LESS ABOUT THE SCORELINE, FINAL RESULT MATTERS: EELCO SCHATTORIE

NEW DELHI: Kingfisher East Bengal are locking their horns with Champions Bengaluru FC on 3rd April amidst myriad of speculations. The Red & Gold outfit are travelling to the realm of the Blues, who has qualified for the AFC Cup Round of 16 last week and are enjoying every bit of their street smart football. Eelco Schattorie, whose dressing room has almost turned into a mini hospital, is a strong believer of attacking football and shows no intention to deviate from the ideology. Ashley Westwood, the rival general has a fully fit squad to deploy his gambits and finds no reason to worry ahead of the thrilling Hero I-League encounter against Kingfisher East Bengal. On a tete-a-tete session with www.i-league.org, Eelco ‘Efficient’ Schattorie voiced out about their gameplan, strategy and many more.

EXCERPTS:

You are enjoying an unbeaten run in the Hero I-League. Would you focus on leaving the pitch unbeaten or winning at any cost?

Eelco: Oh no way. It contradicts my football theory. I always hit the pitch to win it, not for a drab draw. Nevertheless, my side will be missing the services from Milan Susak, Leo Bertos, even DUDU who has gone through an MRI. No matter what, my boys will fight out of their skin to make them taste the defeat. I really care less about the score; the final result matters all for me.

Within rigorous Hero I-League fixture, your boys had midweek AFC Cup match too. Do you think the players are jaded right now before such a crucial Hero I-League match?

Eelco: To be frank, yes they are. I have already been confirmed about two of my foreigners and really afraid of losing out Dudu against Bengaluru. However, End of the day, in professional football we can’t whine on these issues.

There is no odd on favourite at Kanteerava this Sunday. Are you planning any particular change?

Eelco: That’s the reason behind playing second team in the AFC Cup match. Though I am left with very little options, I won’t mind to take calculated risks to get the result done.

Does East Bengal have any plan-B in striking lineup?

Eelco: We have quite a few Indian players who are capable of playing the attacking midfielder role and combining well with Ranti. It’s not about playing striker or midfielder, a positive gameplan is utmost important. Capitalising on the counter attacks and opening up the goalmouth are all we have to do.

Ranti Martins himself levelled BFC defence line as best of the lot and personally he admires John Johnson. Are we going to watch a duel between Kingfisher East Bengal attack and Bengaluru FC defence?

Eelco: With due respect to Bengaluru FC defence, I am not worried how you guys are levelling the match. End of the day, it’s 11v11 in the pitch. I am concerned about my boys. On a given day if we execute the plan, the result could be garnered.

STURDY MUMBAI FC SETTLES A DRAW WITH TITLE-ASPIRANT MCDOWELL MOHUN BAGAN

MUMBAI: Table toppers Mohun Bagan were held to a 1-1 draw by Mumbai FC in their Hero I-League match at the Cooperage on Saturday.

It’s a result that suits neither teams as Mumbai’s relegation rivals won their matches while Bagan dropping points would give the winner of the match between Bengaluru FC and East Bengal, considering both are in the title-race.
Both teams were forced to make quite a few changes owing to injuries and suspensions. Bagan were without their strikers Pierre Boya and Balwant Singh while Mumbai were without Taisuke Matsugae and Ashutosh Mehta. Stand-in coach Henry Picardo also decided to bench Nidhin Lal and Justin Stephen, instead choosing to play Rahul Bheke as the centre-back.

After a listless first half, were the teams had nothing to show except Katsumi Yusa’s free-kick hit the crossbar, both teams came out with much more intent. Mumbai started better and scored the game’s opening goal in the 49th minute. Jayesh Rane took a corner and Reisangmei Vashum jumped above the defenders to head the ball beyond Bagan goalkeeper Debjit Majumder’s reach.

The goal woke up a lethargic Bagan, who immediately swung into action. Coach Sanjoy Sen substituted Manish Bhargav with Bikramjit Aingh in the 56th minute. They began stitching together some good passes in the midfield and started to look more threatening. And thrice in a minute, they were denied an equaliser.

First, Katsumi’s faltering effort from inside the box was saved by Sanjiban Ghosh. A minute later, on the hour mark, Bagan were unlucky not to go on level terms. Denson Devdas’s header from a cross was saved by Ghosh and Jeje Lalpekhlua’s shot from the resulting melee was cleared off the line by Alan Dias.

Ghosh, who was named Hero of the match for his splendid performance, picked up a rib injury and was replaced later by Nidhin Lal. However, it wasn’t before he conceded the equalising goal. Dhanachandra Singh scored the elusive goal for Bagan in the 76th minute after he found himself in acres of space inside the box from a corner.
The goal sent hundreds of visiting fans into raptures. Buoyed by the support, Bagan started pressing more to look for the winning goal. However, Mumbai defended doggedly to hold on to a draw.

“We would have loved three points but one point is good. Mumbai are a tough team to beat. But we should have won, these are two points dropped for us,” Sen said. His counterpart Picardo too felt they could have won the match. “We were a bit disorganised when we conceded the goal. We could have won this,” he said.

Bagan still top the table with 32 points while Mumbai are seventh with 17 points.

RA	Team	Pts
1	McDowell's Mohun Bagan	32
2	Bengaluru FC	28
3	Royal Wahingdoh FC	27
4	Kingfisher East Bengal	26
5	Pune FC	23
6	Salgaocar FC	17
7	Mumbai FC	17
8	Shillong Lajong FC	16
9	Dempo Sports Club	16
10	Sporting Clube de Goa	14
11	Kalyani Bharat FC	12