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Overview
After 16 rounds the Airtel I-League heads into a seven-week break with debutants Bengaluru FC as the leaders. Going into this matchday three clubs were in contention to be the Christmas champions but only Bengaluru’s fate was in their hands and the JSW-owned club managed to win their game 2-1 against Salgaocar to ensure that they will remain on top until February. India captain Sunil Chhetri also took his personal goals tally to nine and is currently the joint top scorer in the league with Mohammedan Sporting’s Josimar.
Interestingly there is a growing feeling among Indian football fans that Bengaluru are being favoured by AIFF and those ‘conspiracy’ theories got enhanced this round as Ashley Westwood’s side were awarded two penalties with the second one being a little harsh. But there is no doubt that Bengaluru have been the most consistent side and deserve to occupy pole position. Irrespective of their showing in the second half of the season, this will turn out to be the perfect debut campaign.
But Bengaluru are not the only ones who have surprised this season as nobody expected the young and modest squad of Sporting Clube to be second after 16 rounds. The Goan outfit edged past United SC 1-0 to end 2013 with four straight wins. They are only three points behind Bengaluru with a game in hand and thus will definitely believe that they can win the title but the same can’t be said of United SC as they are now winless in six and Dutch coach Eelco Schattorie is likely to resign as he feels he can’t take the team forward because of the club’s ongoing financial problems.
Pune FC also could have gone top after this round had other results gone their way but they couldn’t even win their own game as Mohun Bagan won 3-1 in Barasat to give under-fire coach Karim Bencherifa some breathing space. The round’s other match saw Shillong Lajong record a 2-1 home victory over Dempo to maintain their place in the top four. This game only had three foreigners on show while several under-23 players were in action with all three goal scorers falling in that age group.
There is a lot of football to be played of course in the New Year but this has already been the best I-League season so far as it is highly competitive, unpredictable while average attendances has gone up. So many things could change by the time the league resumes in February but lets’ hope it remains as exciting as the first 16 rounds.
Results
Bengaluru FC 2-1 Salgaocar; Sporting Clube 1-0 United SC; Mohun Bagan 3-1 Pune FC; Shillong Lajong 2-1 Dempo
Game & Result of the round
Mohun Bagan 3-1 Pune FC
There were only four games in this round and one fixture stood out both in terms of entertainment and significance. Both Mohun Bagan and Pune needed to win for different reasons and in the end the home team’s desperation to get three points in order to save the job of their coach Bencherifa turned out to be the big difference. From the very first minute the Mariners looked hungrier with every player having a point to prove. Pune as expected were technically superior and comfortable in possession but their defending was uncharacteristically poor at times.
Coming into this game, Pune had the best defensive record in the league but their backline was completely exposed by Mohun Bagan in all three goals of their 3-1 win. In the first goal, Pune failed to clear a corner properly and their players were switched off while Mohun Bagan kept the attack alive through Christopher Chizoba. Mohun Bagan skipper Odafa Okolie eventually pounced on a rebound to put the Kolkata side in front. The second and third goals happened because Pune committed numbers forward but they could and should have defended better.
Mohun Bagan’s quick counter attacks proved highly effective against Pune defence’s high line and the green-and-maroon brigade could have scored more had their finishing been better. Pune also made individual errors as goalkeeper Amrinder Singh completely mistimed his sliding tackle after coming way out of his goal and that allowed Ram Malik to find the back of an empty net for the second. Thongkhosiem Haokip had pulled one back for the visitors but Odafa wrapped up the points late on with Pune skipper Anas Edathodika guilty on this occasion for being too tight to the Nigerian, who turned away easily and had a free run towards goal.
There were lot of feisty challenges and off-the-ball incidents but referee Umesh Bora used common sense instead of going by the book and only produced yellow cards where needed. Both coaches also had arguments throughout the match with Bencherifa predictably celebrating in front of the Pune dugout. It’s a massive result for the Moroccan as his job is safe again and can now look forward to have a crack at three other competitions. It was a significant outing for Odafa too as he bagged a brace for the first time since April and that will surely give him confidence for the rest of the season. Despite defeat Pune remain in the title mix but won’t be winning it if they defend in the same manner.
Best Players
Foreigner – Odafa Okolie (Mohun Bagan)
The club captain was under immense pressure to give a top performance and he finally produced one against title contenders Pune. Odafa netted twice and with better finishing and a bit more luck could have easily scored a couple more.
Indian – Boithang Haokip (Shillong Lajong)
The 22-year-old is one of the most underrated midfielders in the I-League but has always been a consistent performer for Lajong. In the absence of suspended Cornell Glen, Haokip had to step up and so he did by bagging the winner against Dempo with a delightful freekick.
Controversy
There is no love lost between Bencherifa and Pune coach Mike Snoei and that was highly evident again in this game. That aggression on the technical area was transformed on to the pitch with players committing nasty challenges. Full credit to referee Bora for not showing anyone the red and keeping it a fair 11v11 contest but the coaches must try to avoid something similar and control their emotions. The referee can only do his job well if players and coaches are cooperative but that wasn’t the case in this encounter.
In Bangalore, Salgaocar were unhappy with the referee awarding a debatable stoppage time penalty that saw the hosts win the game with Derrick Pereira even skipping the post-match press conference. It was undoubtedly a harsh decision but once again it must be noted that both sets of players only made the referee’s job tougher by arguing and gesturing after every key decision while the electrifying atmosphere created by Bengaluru FC fans also put huge pressure on the match officials.
The Table
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | GD |
| Bengaluru FC | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 10 |
| Sporting Clube | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 27 | +9 |
| Pune FC | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 24 | +5 |
| Shillong Lajong | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 23 | -2 |
| Salgaocar | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 18 | -1 |
| Mohun Bagan | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 18 | +1 |
| East Bengal | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 | +6 |
| United SC | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 18 | -2 |
| Mumbai FC | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 16 | -1 |
| Dempo | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 16 | -4 |
| Mohammedan Sporting | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -4 |
| Rangdajied United | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 12 | -10 |
| Churchill Brothers | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | -6 |
