Kolkata, March 13 (IANS) East Bengal take on Shillong Lajong at the Salt Lake Stadium Friday evening knowing that a win would take them above their opponenents in the round 21 encounter of the Airtel I-League.
A win would see East Bengal overtake fifth-placed Lajong as they currently trail the North-East club by two points and have played three games less.
The red-and-gold brigade come into this fixture on the back of a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Mohammedan Sporting. That result ended a sequence of five games without a win in all competitions but more importantly has given them hope of mounting a title challenge.
But the Kolkata giants have lacked consistency all season with 22 points dropped already after 15 outings while they haven’t won back-to-back I-League fixtures for more than 12 months.
Armando Colaco’s side will also be without Nigerian central defender Uga Okpara, who came off with an injury in the Mohammedan clash and could even be ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
However, East Bengal recorded their biggest win of the season when the sides met in Shillong back in October as a James Moga brace and one each from Edeh Chidi and Cavin Lobo saw them comfortably win 4-0.
That victory came during the tenure of Brazilian Marcos Falopa and now they would be aiming to do the double over Lajong under the guidance of Colaco.
