Shillong: Rangdajied FC would look to tie all loose ends in their quest for a second consecutive win at home against Mumbai FC at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in an I-League clash here tomorrow.
The hosts were upbeat after they beat Pune FC last week and also after being crowned champions at the state's top league yesterday. "I am confident now that we have a well balanced team," Rangdajied coach Santosh Kashyap said.
Kashyap has all his best men at his disposal, giving him a problem of plenty when it comes to the first eleven tomorrow. The team which had beaten Mohun Bagan in Kolkata last month have been strengthened with the induction of five of IMG-R players of the likes of goalkeeper Subrata Paul and Gouramangi Singh at the back.
Skipper Eugeneson and Tomba Singh will be aided by David Ngaihte and Joy Chandra on either flanks as they look for all out attacking. Experienced Gouramangi and Lamine Tamba will have Yohei Iwasaki and Thomas Saikhom at the sides.
A resurgent Mumbai FC are no strangers to Shillong's weather. They returned to the Northeast with a three-match unbeaten run. The visitors will miss the service of Anwar Ali who suffered a hamstring injury during the last match in Kolkata.
Tomorrow's match will be the last for Subrata Paul in India this season as he is set to play in an Danish top-tier club from next month. Kashyap said Paul had contributed immensely to the team as he was a good leader.
Paul and Gourmangi Singh teamed up well in shaping the new Shillong boys on and off the field in the last one month, Kashyap said. Rangdajied are currently looking for a replacement for Paul with a senior goalkeeper, the coach said.
Bengaluru FC hosts East Bengal
Bengaluru FC hosts East Bengal
Bangalore: Debutants Bengaluru FC will look to consolidate their position on the top of the points table when they clash against AFC Cup semi-finalists East Bengal in the I-League, here tomorrow.
With four successive away-wins, Bengaluru FC have shown that their dream start at the beginning of the campaign was no fluke and it will take something special from the visitors to deny the hosts another win.
Bengaluru FC will remain at the top of the 13-team table irrespective of their result against the Kolkata outfit as the nearest rival Sporting Clube de Goa are six points behind the hosts. Bengaluru's inspirational skipper Sunil Chhetri, who is making scoring a brace a habit, would aim to carry his fine form at the Bangalore Football Stadium.
Robin Singh would also look to continue with his impressive work rate in the last few games. The return of club's top-scorer Sean Rooney from a calf strain has only strengthened Bengaluru's strike force.
The hosts will be looking forward to the Aussie to once again cast his magic up front. Rooney, who had scored six goals in the first five matches in Bangalore, would be hoping to delight the homecrowd by scoring goals at his favourite ground.
On the other hand, the Red-and-Gold brigade, who had played a barren draw against Salgaocar FC in Goa, would look to extend their unbeaten streak to nine games this season. With 15 points from 10 games, East Bengal are still in the fray as they could easily race to top three teams if they win next three games.
East Bengal have just conceded a solitary goal in their last eight games against goal-scoring demons like Dempo SC, Pune FC and Churchill Brothers. The Kolkatan outfit's one weak point this season had been their ability to convert chances into goals. They would be pinning their hopes on Edeh Chidi and Manandeep Singh.
Kalu Ogba's hat-trick helps Sporting defeat Shillong Lajong
Kalu Ogba's hat-trick helps Sporting defeat Shillong Lajong
Duler: Kalu Ogba scored a hat-trick to guide Sporting Clube de Goa to an emphatic 5-1 win over Shillong Lajong in their I-league match played at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, today. Shillong Lajong took the lead in the 15th minute through Taisuke Matsugane before Ogba restored parity in the 25th minute to go 1-1 at half time.
The Goan side than totally dominated the second half with Ogba spearheading the attack which put his team ahead in the 59th minute and Boima Karpeh increasing the lead in the 65th minute.
Ogba struck his third goal few minutes later to give Sporting a decisive edge before substitute Victorino Fernandes rounded the tally with a solo run in the stoppage time. Sporting have taken their tally to 24 points and closing the gap at the top over Bengaluru FC with three points.
Shillong Lajong remained on third place with 20 points. Both the teams started cautiously as they tried to gauge each other's strength. The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute when Matsugane met the long ball from the left by Boithang Haokip as he got the better of rival defenders Gonzalo Neila and Jovel Martins, before beating keeper Rvi Kumar with a low shot.
Strung by the setback, Sporting went into attacking mode.
However, Gonzalo was twice unsuccessful with his header when Ogba found the net from a bicycle kick but was ruled off-side by referee Pratap Singh in the 21st minute. However, Ogba restored parity four minutes later when he superbly headed the ball off a long ball from the left by Mauvin Borges which hit the upright before finding the net.
Sporting enjoyed more ball possession as they attacked relentlessly and had the best opportunity to take the lead in the 31st minute. However, the visitors' keeper blocked the ball by diving to his right. Ogba put his team up in the 59th minute when he coverted Arturo Garcia's low free kick into goal.
Ogba scored his hat-trick when he guided the ball into the net to put his team in the driver's seat. Substitute Vitorino Fernandes piled on Lajong's misery when he ran through the defence and scored in the stoppage time.
Dempo pips wayward Mohun Bagan
Dempo pips wayward Mohun Bagan
Kolkata: Riding on Holicharan Narzary's first half strike, five-time champions Dempo returned to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory against Mohun Bagan in a Round 15 I-League here today.
Narzary smashed the ball past Sandip Nandy in a brilliant 33rd minute strike to help Dempo bag their first win from six matches.
There was a setback for Dempo who were reduced to 10-man when Jewel Raja was sent off following a second yellow, but the Goans had sealed the issue by then.
Dempo had last won against defending champions Churchill Brothers in a round nine fixture slipping to the bottom-half, but the win took them to seventh place with 16 points from 14 matches.
It was once again a pathetic display from the home side who were at their wasteful best, while ace forward Odafa Okolie continued his slump in form as they slipped to 10th with 15 points from 14 matches.
Putting up an unchanged line-up with Odafa and Christopher Chizoba up front, Mohun Bagan had the first move when Kastsumi Yusa got an opening early on, but the Japanese recruit was wayward.
Referee C Srikishna found himself in the centre of controversy ruling out a penalty appeal from the home side after Narayan Das used his arm to block a Ram Malik cross inside the box in the 11th minute.
Moments later, Mohun Bagan Echezona Anyichie found an open net after being set up by Denson Devadas, but the Nigerian header went over the crosspiece. In the later part of the second-half, Mohun Bagan had a flurry of chances with Odafa and Katsumi missing some easy ones as they failed to find an equaliser.
Cash strapped United face Pune challenge
Cash strapped United face Pune challenge
Kolkata: Third placed Pune FC will seek to revive their I-League fortunes when they take on a struggling United SC in a round 15 fixture in Kalyani tomorrow. Having hit a roadblock with two back to back losses, Pune FC hope to draw maximum motivation from their past encounters in Kolkata.
Earlier this year, Pune FC had downed Mohammedan Sporting while they had beaten Mohun Bagan in an away game last season, something that should inspire the Pune outfit. United SC, who are missing their top two goalkeepers, have four more injury worries with Eric Brown (ankle), Hassan Al Moustafa (hamstring) and Snehashish Chakraborty (quadriceps).
To make matters worse, the morale of the side too has been at an all time low as severe cash crunch has led to speculation that their ace striker Ranty Martins may switch allegiance to East Bengal early next year. Under such circumstances, their Dutchaman Eelco Schattorie will look to Lalkamal Bhowmick who returned from a two-month lay off and left-back Deepak Mondal.
Incidentally, the purple brigade has never lost a home match against Pune and it remains to be seen whether they keep their slate clean this time as well. Pune FC, meanwhile miss the services of winger Nikhil Kadam, who has not travelled with the squad which happens to be their last tour of the calendar year after injuring his knee.
Also missing from action will be India-international Arata Izumi who faces a one-game suspension after picking up his fourth yellow of the season against Rangdajied.
