East Bengal hand Minerva first defeat on home turf
A 60th minute strike by Cavin Lobo was enough for East Bengal to eke out a 1-0 win over hosts Minerva Punjab FC in a crucial tie at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula on Tuesday.
Minerva missed as many as four clear chances, with three coming in the second half, as the Red and Gold brigade’s custodian CK Ubaid kept his side in the match.
Cavin Lobo’s long ranger in the 60th minute had enough pace to beat the Minerva goalkeeper Rakshit Dagar, who was immediately replaced by Kiran Limbu, much to the delight of EB coach Khalid Jamil.
The crucial three points helped East Bengal close the gap at the top, while Minerva will have to look at the reasons for not finishing the moves. Initial exchanges were dominated by East Bengal as Nigerian Machpherlin Dudu and Yami Longvah troubled Minerva’s defensive line.
In the 18th minute, Lobo came close after a solo run but the ball went past the goal.
East Bengal had a chance in the 35th minute to go ahead. With custodian Dagar to beat, Japanese Katsumi Yusa’s slight hesitation gave enough time to him to clear the ball. Five minutes later, it was Brazilian Eduardo Fer-
PANCHKULA:
reira missing an open goal.
This jolted Minerva, who till then were happy to sit back and let East Bengal dominate.
Gagandeep Bali managed to find some space behind the defenders off a cross from William Opoku. But East Bengal custodian just managed to get a touch to guide the ball over the bar.
The second half also saw both sides trying to break the deadlock. Lobo collected the ball in the Minerva half and he wasn’t going to miss this time.
Minerva went for all-out attack and Chencho Gyeltshen twice came close only to be denied by the EB custodian.
NEROCA VS CHURCHILL
NEROCA have the chance to climb to the top of the I-League standings if they secure three points against a resurgent Churchill Brothers when the two meet on Wednesday. Felix Chidi’s first-half spot-kick separated the sides when they met in the league in Goa in January. Since then, NEROCA edged out Gokulam Kerala 1-0 and fired blanks in a goalless stalemate against Aizawl at home. This will be NEROCA’s third consecutive tie at home and will be the perfect chance for Gift Raikhan to put pressure on Minerva who have one game in hand after losing to EB.
GUWAHATI:The IMPHAL: