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Lifeline for East Bengal, JCT suffer setback
JCT and Viva Kerala didn't do themselves any good, sharing a point in their Group A match of the Hero Honda 31st Federation Cup on Thursday.
JCT and Viva Kerala didn't do themselves any good, sharing a point in their Group A match of the Hero Honda 31st Federation Cup on Thursday.
After Thursday's matches, Salgaocar and East Bengal have three points, Viva Kerala one two and JCT one.
Needing a win to keep semi-final hopes alive, the teams started aggressively with JCT being the better of the teams in terms of possession and control. But when it came to scoring, the Punjab outfit, like in the first match against Salgaocar, was found wanting.
It will be difficult to count the number of chances the teams, especially JCT, created. But both teams lacked a finisher, the one from Punjab sorely missing someone like Baljeet Sahni who has half-a-dozen goals in the third I-League.
“One can't harp about something that's not in his hand,” coach Parminder Singh said, referring to his players who couldn't make this trip due to injury. JCT's Baldeep Singh missed a sitter straight after the break. This after his right-footed attempt off a rebound hit the horizontal.
In the meanwhile, Viva Kerala settled into a rhythm, often threatening the JCT goal. The Punjab outfit survived a scare when Papua New Guinea striker Ruben Senyo crossed from the right but Baldeep cleared before Shibin Lal and Sirajuddin could react.
Goalkeeper Karanjit Singh, who had a good game under the bar, saved JCT on numerous occasions. It was a treat to watch Karanjit, outstretched, parrying M. P. Sakeer's scorching free-kick some time before the final whistle.
JCT were as good even after the change of ends. Balwant's good run continued and once Baldeep was denied by the post.
Yakubu strikes
East Bengal lived to fight another day thanks to Yusif Yakubu's first-half matchwinner against Salgaocar. The Ghanaian dribbled past Peter Costa to tap the ball in on the left of Salgaocar custodian Kalyan Chaubey after Sanju Pradhan ran in from the right and played a square pass.
After a none-too-impressive outing in the opener against Viva Kerala, a lot was expected of East Bengal. The local crowd again came in large numbers to watch Bhaichung Bhutia in action. While that didn't happen, their favourite team won.
East Bengal coach Phillipe de Ridder started with Mehrajuddin Wadao, instead of B. Beikhoei, and the midfielder had one of his best outings in a long time.
Subhash Singh attacked with alarming regularity and conviction; Alvito d' Cunha almost always had the better of Salgaocar's Manjit Singh on the left and Sanju Pradhan's enterprise kept the strikers busy. But the man who turned things around for East Bengal was Yakubu.
Stretchered out after the first game against Viva Kerala, the Ghanaian went all out to get the red-and-gold brigade's campaign on track, and it was fitting that he scored the match's only goal.
“We played an excellent game, every one did their job,” said De Ridder. “The next match (against JCT) will be difficult as Mehtab (Hossain), our central midfielder, is out with a double booking. So, this is a very important win ,” De Ridder said.
