Freak goal by Olalekan sinks Bagan

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, FEB. 17. A freak moment of opportunism by Omolaja Olalekan determined the result - 1-0 - in favour of Kingfisher East Bengal which defeated Mohun Bagan to nudge into the lead in the V National football League here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

The round VII match pitted the two arch-rivals for the sixth time in the season and East Bengal maintained its superiority at home, gaining its third win. The win gave East Bengal full three points, which helped it overtake its rival to the top position in the league table with 16 points from seven matches. Mohun Bagan, losing for the first time in the tournament, remained on 14 points, taking the seat next.

Following a scrappy first session, the second session saw most of the action, including the goal. The first 45 minutes produced little in form of a contest as both the teams struggled to bring rhythm in their attacks. East Bengal enjoyed a little edge initially as its opponent looked tentative in the middle.

Despite having a strong midfield Mohun Bagan preferred a defensive launch, fielding at least six players who are specialist defenders. The midfield thus looked deficient with medios Renedy Singh and R.P. Singh unable to bring up the right moves to activate the forwards Brazilian Jose Barreto and R.C. Prakash. This gave the opponent all the scope to control the midfield launching repeated attacks.

The goal, coming up in the 48th minute, set the stage for some absorbing action in the second session. Mohun Bagan, displaying all the resolve to attack, began strongly following the change of ends. But fortune sided with the opponent which was gifted the chance which it had been struggling to create for most of the first session. Launching a fast counter, East Bengal saw its diminutive midfielder Dipankar Roy essay a long ball into the opposition half. One of the strikers, Dipendu Biswas, relayed the ball further into the Mohun Bagan box with a header. With the Bagan defence marking all the opponent attackers, there seemed to be hardly any harm in the move.

But the situation took a turn for the worse as Mohun Bagan custodian Choubey, who charged in to gather the ball, spilled one of the simplest of collections. The free ball gave the other East Bengal striker Olalekan an open net and he finished the drama with a casual push.

The standings (at the end of Round VII: (read under as played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points):

East Bengal: 7-5-1-1-10-3-16; Salgaocar SC: 7-5-0-2-12-7-15; FC Kochin: 7-4-3-0-12-8-15; Mohun Bagan: 7-4-3-0-11-6- 14; Vasco SC: 7-3-4-0-6-3-13; Churchill Brothers: 7-2-2-3-8-6-8; Mahindra United: 7- 1-4-2-4-5-7; Tollygunge Agragami: 7-1-3-3-2-6-6; ITI: 7-1-2-4-2-5-5; Air India: 7-1-2- 4-5-10-5; SBT: 7-0-4-3-4-10-4; JCT: 7-0-3-4-4-11-3.

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Section  : Sport
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