I-League | Mohun Bagan open with draw; Minerva Punjab FC hold Churchill Brothers

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Pre-season favorites Mohun Bagan were held to a 1-1 draw against Gokulam Kerala FC on Saturday as defending champions, Minerva Punjab FC played out a 0-0 stalemate against Churchill Brothers in Punjab. Shillong Lajong beat Aizawl FC 2-1 in the northeast derby to start their campaign with a win.

Gokulam Kerala FC vs Mohun Bagan

Playing in front of a noisy 28,400 strong home crowd, Gokulam Kerala FC managed to hold heavyweights Mohun Bagan to a 1-1 draw in their opening fixture of this year’s I-League tournament at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Saturday. Gokulam began with a flurry of attacks with Mudde Mussa creating an opening early in the first half. However, Bagan came back strong with chances coming from Egyptian midfielder Omar El Husseiney and Ugandan Henry Kisekka.

It was the away team who took the lead in the 41st minute, when Arijit Bagui floated a free-kick inside the box which forward Kisekka met perfectly with his angled-header to beat opposition custodian Shibinraj at the far post. However, the home side came back into the game after a Lalchhawnkima own goal in the 71st minute. But their experienced opponents were smart enough to hold out for a draw despite added pressure from a determined Gokulam team. The match eventually ended at 1-1 with Gokulam’s Arjun Jayaraj being awarded the Hero of the Match award for his creativity up front.

Minerva Punjab FC vs Churchill Brothers 

Last year’s champions, Minerva Punjab FC, began their 2018-19 I-League season with a 0-0 stalemate against Goan club Churchill Brothers. Playing at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, both teams had new tacticians at the helm in the form of Irishman Paul Munster for the home team and Romanian Petre Gigiu for the Goans.

Despite fielding two strong starting XI’s, both the teams failed to put the ball into their opponents net in what turned out to be a defensive masterclass in Punjab on Sunday. While both teams shared equal amounts of possession of the ball, it was Gigiu’s team that had more shots on target. But the home team’s custodian, Bhaskar, was at his very best to deny the Goan outfit a goal on multiple occasions during the game. Punjab made a flurry of changes in the second half in the attempt to bring some offensive options onto the pitch, but Churchill’s defense was solid all throughout the game and never looked in any trouble of conceding a goal as the match eventually ended at 0-0.

Shillong Lajong vs Aizawl FC

Shillong Lajong FC took on Aizawl FC in the North-eastern derby to open their I-League campaign this year at the JN Stadium in Shillong on Sunday. The home team were determined to make a positive start to their campaign and got off to a flyer as they bagged the opening goal of the match in the 20th minute courtesy of a Naorem Singh effort which was set up by midfielder - Novin Gurung. However, Aizawl did not back down as they fought hard to find an equaliser from there onwards which piled pressure on Shillong to defend in big numbers.

But just six minutes after the start of the second half, the home side doubled their lead as Singh beat Aizawl’s custodian for a second time by a beautiful assist from Rakseh Pradhan. Shillong came into this campaign as the only team other than the Indian Arrows to not have any foreigners in their squad and were certainly put to the test as Aizawl continued to attack in large numbers. The visitors were awarded a penalty in the 70th minute which midfielder, Ansumana Kromah, successfully converted to reduce the gap to one-goal. However, Alison Kharsyntiew’s team held onto the narrow lead to edge out their rivals with a 2-1 win in the north-east derby and begin their 2018-19 campaign with three points.

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