Depleted EB take on Arrows
Calcutta: A depleted Kingfisher East Bengal side will have their task cut out when they take on a resurgent Pailan Arrows in the IFA Shield semi-final at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday.
The red and gold brigade will be without strikers Tolgay Ozebe and Robin Singh, while midfielder Sushant Mathew and defenders Robert Lalthlamuana, Naoba Singh and Saikat Saha Roy are unfit. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is also likely to miss the action because of personal issues.
To make matters worse, Mehtab Hossain is ruled with a groin injury and several players are busy doing national duty.
Coach Trevor James Morgan, however, sounded optimistic about his team’s chances on the eve of their semi-final.
“Injuries are part and parcel of the game. We cannot do anything about it ,” Morgan said.
Tolgay,, who is nursing a a calf-muscle injury, is likely to be out for two weeks . The Australian recruit, however, said that he might play a part in the game if needed. That Sushant and Saikat may still play, underlines the sticky situation Morgan finds himself in.
East Bengal are likely to start with strikers Baljit Sahni and Seiminlen Doungel. Sanju Pradhan, Penn Orji and Khantang Paite will man the midfield while Sushant Mathew will operate down the left-wing.
EB need a draw
Calcutta: Nothing seems to be going Kingfisher East Bengal’s way. What with inept refereeing, a maddening schedule and their strikers being out of form, the red and gold brigade have struggled to find their feet in the last two outings.
While they stuttered to a 2-1 win in the IFA Shield opener against Bhowanipore, they succumbed to an unfortunate 0-1 loss to Yemeni club Al-Orouba in the opening match of the AFC Cup.
With Bhowanipore thrashing Lajong FC in the other match of the IFA Shield, East Bengal now need at least a draw against the north-east side to qualify for the next round.
EB would have to do so without Harmanjyot Singh Khabra, who picked up an injury in the AFC Cup match, on Tuesday. Khabra may be replaced by Saikat Saha Roy. It was learnt that Alvito D’Cunha may get some playing time after being on the bench for the last two matches.
Coach Trevor James Morgan was apparently miffed since he was not informed that Friday’s match against Lajong was deferred by a day. He came to know of the postponement only after he arrived for practice at the East Bengal Ground at 7 am, on Thursday.
A counsellor spoke to the team at the training session on Friday morning to help bring about some change in their approach to the game.
Md. Sp. held by Police AC
Calcutta: EMTA Mohammedan Sporting Club effectively ended their title hopes as they settled for a goalless draw against Police Athletic Club in a Calcutta Football League (CFL) Premier Division match, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday.
Sporting are now in second place with 15 points from eight matches, three points behind Kingfisher East Bengal with just two games remaining.
Sporting began well and could have sealed the match in the first half itself, but were denied by Police goalkeeper Joy Dhar.
Phoolchand Hemron impressed with his work-rate down the right flank and kept asking serious questions of the Police defence.
The first significant opportunity came in the in the 39th minute, when Stanley Cyprian, who has been in fine form, missed a sitter as he failed to latch on to a Hemron pass.
In the 44th minute Alfred Jaryan headed Hemron’s cross from the right flank inches wide.
In the very next minute, Hemron went for glory but his blistering shot, from outside the penalty box, was saved brilliantly by Dhar.
While the first half was played at a frenetic pace, chances were few and far between in an uneventful second half.
Meanwhile, Prayag United SC were held to a 1-1 draw by Peerless at the Barasat stadium after Joshimar scored from the spot in the second half to cancel out Abhidhan’s first half goal.
Teams
Mohammedan SC: Arnab Das Sharma (Sukdeb Ghosh 53), Sk. Azim, Phoolchand Hemron, Lucky Imran, Safar Sardar, Suman Chandra Dey, Adeola Hassan, Mohammed Mukhtar (Sorabuddin Mallick 71), Monirul Mondal, Alfred Jaryan, Stanley Cyprian.
Police AC: Joy Dhar, Sukanta Banerjee, Rahul Bhattacharjee, Debashish Debnath, Biswajit Dasgupta, Nilkanta Paria, Amit Kumar Das (Swapan Munda 83), Madhab Das, Ratan Das, Ola Goke Isiah, Ujjal Ghosh.
Referee: Jayanta Sarkar.
EB drub Arrows
Calcutta: Kingfisher East Bengal defeated Pailan Arrows 4-1 in an eventful I-League match at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday, to move to the top of the standings.
With this win, East Bengal lead the I-League table with 30 points from 15 matches while Dempo drop to second spot with the same number of points, having played a game less. Arrows, meanwhile, stay second from the bottom with seven points from 14 matches.
In a match dominated by the red and gold brigade, the AIFF developmental side were made to look ordinary as Tolgay Ozebe’s brace, and a goal each from Penn Orji and left back Robert Lalthlamuana ensured that Trevor Morgan’s men are well on the road to recovery.
The first goal came in the 27th minute when Penn found himself at the right place at the right time, heading in, on the rebound, after Sanju Pradhan’s shot was punched straight to him by the goalkeeper, Naveen Kumar. The move began when Sanju was released after a clever one-two with Man-of-the-Match Tolgay.
Three minutes later, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s clearance found Tolgay, who, after a quick one-two with Penn, scored the second for East Bengal.
Morgan’s men turned on the style in the second half to stamp their authority on the game.
In the 57th minute, however, Lalthlamuana, who impressed with his blistering pace down the left flank, scored from an audacious angle off a Penn pass.
Down 0-3, Arrows continued to press forward and were rewarded for their efforts just at the stroke of the hour mark, when Prathmesh Maulingkar’s header off a Prabir Das corner found the net.
And then came the theatricality!
In the 76th minute, Tolgay scored from an improvised header, after goalkeeper Kumar collided with Gurtej Singh (Sr.) to leave the Australian with an open goal. Tolgay stopped the ball just before the goalline and headed the ball in, much to the delight of the fans.
The goal, however, drew slack from both the coaches, with Morgan substituting him immediately after. The substitute, however, was none other than Edmilson Marques, who returned in East Bengal colours after more than two years.
In the 90th minute, the Brazilian almost turned the provider, when his cross from the left flank was hit with blistering force by Sanju only to miss the goal by a whisker.
Teams
East Bengal: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Harmanjyot Singh Khabra, Robert Lalthlamuana, Gurwinder Singh, Uga Okpara, Sanju Pradhan, Khantang Paite, Mehtab Hossain (Subodh Kumar 79), Reisangmi Vashum (Sushanth Mathew 63), Penn Orji, Tolgay Ozebe(Edmilson Marques 79).
Pailan Arrows: Naveen Kumar, Rajiv Ghosh, Calrozama Fanai, Gurtej Singh (Sr.), Prathmesh Maulingkar, Prabir Das, Kh. Jibon Singh, Gurtej Singh (Jr.) (Loukik Dilip Jadhav 70), Bikramjit Singh (Milan Singh 70), C.S. Sabeeth, Bijendra Rai.
Referee: SS Panda
MoM: Tolgay Ozebe
EB to sign Edmilson
Calcutta: Kingfisher East Bengal have decided to sign their former Brazilian striker Edmilson for the rest of the season in place of Scottish recruit Alan Gow, who will be released soon. The club officials informed that Edmilson would sign the contract within a fortnight after he gets accustomed with the team.
“We have taken him on board for the rest of the season in the hope that he will change our dwindling fortunes. He has played for East Bengal before and understands the culture of the club,” said East Bengal secretary Kalyan Majumdar.
Currently registered with second division I-League side, Royal Wahingdoh, Edmilson will have to clear his contractual dues before he signs for East Bengal, club officials said.
On being asked whether the club will take fitness tests of the striker, Majumdar said: “I know that he did not play any matches for Wahingdoh so far this season. But I think he is in a good shape as he is constantly undergoing training with the club. So, the tests will not be necessary.”
Edmilson will be making a comeback to East Bengal after two years and two months. In his first season in 2007-08, he scored many match-winning goals for the team.
However, in the second season, he used to lose his temper easily, and got involved in scuffles with team-mates and coach. His fitness, too, became a concern for the team management and was released in October 2009.
EB seek to mend ways
Calcutta: Kingfisher East Bengal will look to return to winning ways against Air India in their final round match of the I-League first-leg, at the Salt Lake Stadium, here on Monday, after the 4-0 drubbing they received at the hands of Salgaocar.
If the scoreline was bad, the manner in which the city team succumbed to the Goan outfit was worse, with Mehtab Hussain receiving marching orders early on in the match.
That the defeat was followed by a dressing room scuffle between Hussain and forward Tolgay Ozebe made matters worse.
Coach Trevor James Morgan insisted that the incident would not have any bearing on the side.
“Such things happen… I don’t think this is the first one and neither will this be the last,” the Englishman said.
“We need to put the last match behind us and Monday (January 2) is a new day. It’s in fact, a new year. We will start from scratch – it’s a must-win match for us.”
Incidentally, it appeared as if the errant duo seemed to bury the hatchet, as they were spotted dining together with family on New Year’s eve.
Placed fourth, behind bitter foes Mohun Bagan (24), in the table, last year’s runners-up, East Bengal (23) will be desperate to put their campaign back on track and avoid further slip-ups before the return and last leg of the marathon I-League.
While Hussain will be missing from the sqaud, Morgan’s men will be bolstered by the return of their key Nigerian defender Uga Okpara, whose suspension in the previous round had cost East Bengal badly.
Ozebe had a minor niggle and opted out of practice this morning but the East Bengal forward insisted that he would be fit for the match.
Meanwhile, Air India have already proven without a doubt that they are by no means walkovers.
The Santosh Kashyap-coached side have been the surprise package this season as they dislodged four-time champions Dempo from the top of the table with a stunning 2-0 victory.
With the win over Dempo, Air India enjoyed a hattrick of victories only to be stopped in their last round here against Mohun Bagan.
Lying sixth with 19 points, the Mumbai outfit would offer stiff resistance to East Bengal. Young Manandeep Singh and Nigerian Henry Ezeh would be the players to watch out for, as their form this season has been impressive.
