I-League: Round 6 Review – Bengaluru FC's dream start continues

Game of the round

Mumbai FC 2-3 Shillong Lajong

Shillong Lajong (in white) won the five-goal thriller

Many people questioned the decision to have this fixture as one of the two televised games of this matchday, but in the end anyone who watched got entertained as the sides produced an open game with five goals and plenty of other chances.

In the previous five rounds, there was hardly any high-scoring goal fest so this match turned out to be a pleasant surprise for the Indian football fans. Both teams came into this game desperate for a win as Lajong were on a four-match winless streak while Mumbai FC had only won once in their last nine I-League encounters.

Hence both coaches set out their teams to attack from the very first whistle and Lajong raced into an early lead through Japanese Taisuke Matsugane. It was only their second goal since round one. The Shillong club had failed to keep a clean sheet in their previous three matches, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Afghanistan international Sandjar Ahmadi equalise just ten minutes after Matsugane’s opener.

Mumbai’s goal though didn’t deflate Lajong’s spirits as they continued to attack in the first half with only their final pass letting them down. The North-East club needed a bit more quality in the final third and it was provided in the second half by Trinidad & Tobago World Cupper Cornell Glen, who bagged a brace to take his tally to five for the season and could have easily scored a hattrick.

At 3-1, Mumbai FC had a mountain to climb and the sending off of Afghanistan skipper Zohib Islam Amiri added to their woes. But Khalid Jamil’s side ensured a nervy finish for Lajong with Ritesh Perambra pulling one back in stoppage time. The Shillong outfit held on for their second straight away win while Mumbai suffered back-to-back defeats at their adapted home venue in Pune.

Result of the round

Mohun Bagan 2-1 Salgaocar

Karim Bencherifa had the last laugh against his former club

Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa being up against his former club Salgaocar was an interesting subplot of this fixture. But the points were far more important to improve the Kolkata club’s position in the table as they had failed to win their first four matches with the pressure mounting on Bencherifa.

Skipper and talisman Odafa Okolie was supposed to play some part in this game but 24 hours before the match, the Nigerian suffered another setback in his recovery from injury and thus once again the Mariners were without their inspirational striker. To make matters worse, India goalkeeper Sandy Nandy was also ruled out.

Salgaocar came into this clash as the league leaders and looked like continuing their good start to the season as they were the better side in the first half. But the Goan club were wasteful with the league’s top scorer Darryl Duffy squandering the best opportunity of the first period.

Derrick Pereira’s side never got going in the second half and went behind when a mistake from Nicolau Colaco allowed Mohun Bagan’s CS Sabeeth to get in behind and score past Karanjit Singh. Japanese Katsumi Yusa doubled the home team’s advantage with a brilliant strike but the green-and-maroon brigade only got the points after a scare as Duffy converted a late penalty to make it 2-1.

The result and some aspects of the performance against Salgaocar could finally kick-start Mohun Bagan’s I-League campaign. Bencherifa is an expert of getting the best out of modest squads and this result will help in enhancing the self-belief of his players. For Salgaocar it was a massive step backwards and an indication that they might be overdependent on former Swansea striker Duffy for the goals.

Mohun Bagan still desperately need Odafa back in action while Salgaocar must choose their Asian foreigner wisely and hope that someone like Frenchman Claude Gnakpa can share the goal-scoring responsibility with Duffy.