BFC edge resolute Mumbai
Naveen Peter, April 03, 2016, Bengaluru, DHNS
Football I-League : Lalhlimpuia goal puts Bengaluru level on points with Bagan at top
For long it looked to be heading into yet another stalemate. But for a few moments of sheer brilliance and game awareness, Bengaluru FC eked out a 1-0 win against Mumbai FC in their I-League encounter here at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on a dry Saturday evening.
Found on the edge of a loose ball, Bengaluru winger Udanta Singh made a fine run into the Mumbai half and smartly scooped the ball over a charging Mumbai defender to find CK Vineeth. The Kerala man then cut past an on crushing Mumbai goalkeeper Pawan Kumar and found Daniel Lalhlimpuia who slotted in his first-ever goal for the side to help Bengaluru garner all three points.
Thanks to their first-ever win over their nemesis, champions Mohun Bagan’s lead over the Ashley Westwood-side is now down to just a better head-to-head record. Bagan had got the better of Bengaluru when the two sides met here a month ago. Both Bagan and BFC are on 25 points with the latter have a game in hand.
It was tipped to be a humdinger and the game proved out to be so as both the sides found it difficult to break the opposition’s resolute defences in the opening hour. Led by the experienced duo in John Johnson and Curtis Osano, Bengaluru held things tight at the back. However, their attack – sans Sunil Chhetri who failed to recover from a groin trouble — failed to live up to the expectation.
Though Seiminlen Doungel formed a three-man attack with Kim Song Yong and CK Vineeth, none could get behind the Mumbai back line as chances went begging for Bengaluru.
Their North Korean import Kim was the first to have a real go at the Mumbai goal. Fed in by a juicy ball from Thoi Singh, the former Royal Wahingdoh player rose high enough to beat the marker, but unfortunately his attempt flew straight to Kumar’s hands in the Mumbai goal. Later, though the returning Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Thoi Singh and Vineeth all had a say at the goal, nothing to get past a sturdy Kumar as he thwarted away the danger with ease.
While Bengaluru banked a lot on their make-shift attack to break down the Mumbai wall, the visitors just had a certain Arata Izumi who looked like a threat worth worrying.
He might have failed to impress the Indian national coach with his performance so far in the league, but that didn’t seem to affect Izumi as the Japanese-born Indian led his side’s attack with venom.
Gliding past the marker with ease and picking up his team-mates with a number of delightful passes, Izumi once again proved why he is the pivot around which the Mumbai team builds most of his moves. He tested the Bengaluru’s shot stopper Amrinder Singh from a distance, found Sushil Singh time and again with his precise passing, but none could get past the Punjab ’keeper as Mumbai failed to break the deadlock.
Bagan lose derby
Earlier, Do Dong-Hyun scored two goals as East Bengal upset arch-rivals Mohun Bagan 2-1 in their derby clash at Siliguri.
Japanese, Katsumi Yusa score the consolation goal for Mohun Bagan.
Found on the edge of a loose ball, Bengaluru winger Udanta Singh made a fine run into the Mumbai half and smartly scooped the ball over a charging Mumbai defender to find CK Vineeth. The Kerala man then cut past an on crushing Mumbai goalkeeper Pawan Kumar and found Daniel Lalhlimpuia who slotted in his first-ever goal for the side to help Bengaluru garner all three points.
Thanks to their first-ever win over their nemesis, champions Mohun Bagan’s lead over the Ashley Westwood-side is now down to just a better head-to-head record. Bagan had got the better of Bengaluru when the two sides met here a month ago. Both Bagan and BFC are on 25 points with the latter have a game in hand.
It was tipped to be a humdinger and the game proved out to be so as both the sides found it difficult to break the opposition’s resolute defences in the opening hour. Led by the experienced duo in John Johnson and Curtis Osano, Bengaluru held things tight at the back. However, their attack – sans Sunil Chhetri who failed to recover from a groin trouble — failed to live up to the expectation.
Though Seiminlen Doungel formed a three-man attack with Kim Song Yong and CK Vineeth, none could get behind the Mumbai back line as chances went begging for Bengaluru.
Their North Korean import Kim was the first to have a real go at the Mumbai goal. Fed in by a juicy ball from Thoi Singh, the former Royal Wahingdoh player rose high enough to beat the marker, but unfortunately his attempt flew straight to Kumar’s hands in the Mumbai goal. Later, though the returning Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Thoi Singh and Vineeth all had a say at the goal, nothing to get past a sturdy Kumar as he thwarted away the danger with ease.
While Bengaluru banked a lot on their make-shift attack to break down the Mumbai wall, the visitors just had a certain Arata Izumi who looked like a threat worth worrying.
He might have failed to impress the Indian national coach with his performance so far in the league, but that didn’t seem to affect Izumi as the Japanese-born Indian led his side’s attack with venom.
Gliding past the marker with ease and picking up his team-mates with a number of delightful passes, Izumi once again proved why he is the pivot around which the Mumbai team builds most of his moves. He tested the Bengaluru’s shot stopper Amrinder Singh from a distance, found Sushil Singh time and again with his precise passing, but none could get past the Punjab ’keeper as Mumbai failed to break the deadlock.
Bagan lose derby
Earlier, Do Dong-Hyun scored two goals as East Bengal upset arch-rivals Mohun Bagan 2-1 in their derby clash at Siliguri.
Japanese, Katsumi Yusa score the consolation goal for Mohun Bagan.
No comments:
Post a Comment