I-League: Mohun Bagan blunt Indian Arrows, keep hopes alive

Vasco: Last they may have finished but the impression young Indian Arrows have left is nothing short of lasting.
Mohun Bagan, Kolkata’s bigwigs, handed the young development team a 2-0 defeat at the Tilak Maidan on Tuesday to condemn them to the bottom of the 10-team league.
But with finishing on 15 points from 18 matches including four wins, three draws and no loss worse than 0-3 suggests that the concept of fielding a team of boys fighting it out with full grown men is a sound investment for the future.
Player-of-the-match Dipinda Dicka, league top scorer, opened the scoring with an overhead volley that looped into Prabsukhan Singh Gill’s goal in the 26th minute and brought the Cameroonian his 12th strike.
Then Akram Moghrabi, the Lebanese, made it 2-0 in the 41st minute from substitute Gurjinder Kumar’s cross from the left to leave Indian Arrows a mountain to climb.
Mohun Bagan on 27 points from 16 matches remain at fourth position with two matches in hand, a theoretical chance to win the league but only if table leaders Minerva Punjab FC, Neroca FC and East Bengal at second and third respectively lose their way.
The goals resulted from a flailing defence, a scenario not entirely expected, given the fatigue factor in Arrows’ arduous campaign and an exacting ambition of salvaging something from one last encounter against an iconic unit.
Much the case of leaving the best for the last, if one ignores the cruel twist of words.
The adage took a different connotation, one that Bagan would have been well aware of as they crossed over two goals to the good.
Arrows pulled the rug from Churchill Brothers’ feet, scoring twice in dying minutes to win 2-1 and salvaged a point at the very ground against Aizawl FC after being 0-2 down.
And although Arrows, fielding five changes rung by Portuguese coach Luis Norton de Matos, attempted to take control in the second half, Mohun Bagan could have killed the match had Dicka’s header from the scintillating Nikhil Kadam’s cross from the right gone in instead of hitting the far post.
It could well have been different had Arrows captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam found the net in the eighth minute from Rahim Ali’s pass but Shilton Paul stretched himself on the turf to ward off danger.
The midfield duo of Cameron Watson, the Australian, and Yuta Kinowaki, the Japanese, ensured Bagan dominance in the midfield and the occasional menacing ball that had the rival defence at sixes and sevens.
One such long ball had Jitendra Singh floundering and the marauding Dicka providing the coup de etat.
With halftime approaching, Gurjinder who replaced Ricky Lallawmawma just four minutes earlier, crossed into the area eluding not just the Arrows’ back-four but also teammate Azharuddin Mullick. Moghrabi, though, was at hand to slot into an open net.
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paresh.mokani, 27-02-2018 22:31
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