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GOALS
YELLOW CARDS RED CARDS MAN OF THE MATCH |
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| Former NFL champions East Bengal Club returned to winning ways with a lone goal victory against current I-League leaders Dempo SC at the floodlit Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. East Bengal still remain in the relegation zone with now 11 points from 13 matches but closed in on Viva Kerala and Sporting Clube de Goa just one and two points respectively behind their rivals. For defending NFL champions Dempo it was their second defeat in a row but they remain top of the I-League with 27 points but Churchill Brothers and JCT are now breathing down their neck. Both the title and relegation races have heated-up even more with five rounds to go. East Bengal looked a much better organised team and played with dedication and conviction under new coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee, who was the second match in charge. Manoranjan took a defensive approach against the league leaders to avoid running into Dempo's dangerous attack. Former Dempo defender Majekodumni Bolaji and Anupam Sarkar had a great game denying Ranty Martins Soleye and Chidi Edeh, while Julius Owino along with the other East Bengal midfielders denied Roberto Mendes Silva and Climax Lawrence to play with their usual fluency. Dempo after their loss against Mahindra United and the serious injury to their coach Armando Colaco didn't look the team which everybody has become to fear in Indian football. The midfielder and attack upfront didn't look sharp, while the defence had their problems with East Bengal's Brazilian striker Edmilson. East Bengal, who hadn't won since December 3 and had not scored a goal since December 23, tried their best to finally break the jinx. But their approach initially was always the same with the long ball forward to Edmilson, but the Brazilian did trouble Dempo defenders Mahesh Gawli and John Dias on numerous occasions, but his attempts went either wide or Abhijit Mondal blocked them in the Dempo goal. But the chance of the first half came Dempo's way when a cross from the right travelled across the face of the goal to Nicolau Borges but his shot was blocked by Subrata Pal in the East Bengal goal. After the breather East Bengal upped their tempo and remained in control of the midfield but Alvito and Mehtab attempts just missed the target. Around the hour mark Dempo got better into the game but Chidi Edeh wasted the best chance when he shot wide with an open goal infront of him. In the 69th minute East Bengal finally broke the deadlock. After a foul on Edmilson, Alvito D'Cunha took a freekick from the right which he curled into the box with his left foot and Dempo's dependable defender Mahesh Gawli shot the ball into his own goal with the Saltlake Stadium erupting in joy. Thereafter East Bengal concentrated on their defence with Dempo putting pressure on them, but the Goans couldn't get back into the match with Anthony Pereira missing the best chance at the end of regulation time when his shot just went over the crossbar with Subrata Pal out of position. East Bengal earned a deserving victory to keep their fight for survival alive, while Dempo will have to do some soul searching ahead of their top of the table clash with JCT. |
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