Air India enter EK Nayanar Gold Cup semifinals

KOZHIKODE: While Air India's flight service has often been unreliable in the recent past, their football team has been performing with marked consistency whenever they have made the trip down south to Kerala this season.
The script has been eerily similar in all the four games they have played - one against Chirag United Kerala at Thiruvananthapuram in the I-League back in November last year and three so far in the ongoing EK Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup.
They have conceded soft goals in every game but, except for one blemish, have scored more than their opponents. Their strikers have taken the difficult chances that have come their way while frittering away the easier ones. And in all the games, they have managed to give themselves a real scare against opponents they should be putting away easily.
BN Railway, Kolkata was the side 'The Pilots' defeated on Tuesday, with the final scoreline of 3-1 indicative of the free-flowing, attacking game that took place. Air India took off with authority, netting as early as the fourth minute through captain Ezeh Henry.
The Nigerian striker did what he does best, poaching a goal by being in the right place at the right time. An under-hit backpass from the Railway side allowed Henry to sneak in ahead of keeper Ganesh Singh, round him with aplomb and tap into an empty net.
Despite having most of the possesion, Air India allowed BN Railway to draw level in the 27th minute. Having lost posession in midfield, the Air india players failed to track the run of Pratim Sarkar, who arrived unmarked in the middle of the box to stroke a fine finish past Harshad Meher in goal. The men from Mumbai were back in front nine minutes later - Prakash Thorat getting on the end of a good cross from Royston D'Souza.
They could have gone further ahead before the break when a foul on Soccor Veiho by Soumik Roy resulted in a penalty. However, Ramandip Singh did his best impression of David Beckham to blast the spotkick high into the stands.
Henry then had two clearcut chances to put the game away in the second half when through one-on-one with Ganesh but managed to fluff both opportunities. He did have the final laugh however, getting on the end of a flick-on from a corner in the 78th minute to head home the third.
The win meant Air India became the first team to enter the semifinal with two wins (the other a 2-1 win over MEG, Bangalore) and a draw (2-2 against Kerala XI) in the group stages. If they continue their knack of scraping through matches despite unconvincing performances, they might have a chance of going all the way. But with tougher opponents waiting in the knockout stages, the defence in particular has to shore up.