Kerala hold Mumbai 1-1
KOCHI: Kerala Blasters were held to a 1-1 draw by Mumbai City in their third Indian Super League (ISL) game at the JLN Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. Mark Sifneos scored to give the home side a promising start but the visitors scored late in the game to even things out in Kochi.
Mark Sifneos replaced Iain Hume in the starting lineup for the home side as Rene Meulensteen tried to turn around his side’s fortunes in front of goal
Alexandre Guimaraes rang the changes for the visitors, bringing Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Davinder Singh and Rafa Jorda into the team in place of Raju Gaikwad, Marcio Rozario and Sanju Pradhan.
Kerala Blasters started the game on the front foot as expected and the midfielder Courage Pekuson had an early chance in the first few minutes of the game when Jackichand Singh squared the ball into his path. The Ghanaian dragged his wide of the far post but it was only just the beginning of a flurry of attacks by the home side. CK Vineeth’s corner-kick caused havoc inside the Mumbai box as Lakic-pesic’s flick found Sandesh Jhingan inside the box and it took a well-executed block by Davinder Singh to keep the skipper’s shot from hitting the net.
The brilliant performance of Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea and goals from Jesse Lingard gave Manchester United a 3-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium here.
The fourth consecutive victory of the Jose Mourinho-led team left the Reds provisionally five points off the lead on Saturday, reports Efe.
Manchester United held a favourable position almost from the beginning. After four minutes the team secured an advantage with a goal by Ecuadorian Antonio Valencia.
Seven minutes later it extended its advantage. Anthony Martial met Jesse Lingard who beat Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech by the left post of his goal.
Arsenal monopolised the ball. However, the team derived little benefit from its possession because — among other factors — De Gea frustrated each of the attempts of the local team.
The team of Arsene Wenger, however, managed to close the gap at the beginning of the second half, in an effort conceived by Aaron Ramsey and culminated by Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsenal then returned to the game and accelerated it.
However, Manchester United delivered the final blow to Arsenal with Lingard scoring the deciding goal.
Jose Mourinho’s squad played the last quarter of an hour with one player less following the ejection of Paul Pogba. Arsenal saw its first defeat after three consecutive victories to leave the fourth place at the table, now held by Liverpool. BHUBANESWAR: Inconsistency has been plaguing Indian hockey for quite some time and the hosts need to address it before squaring off against Rio Olympic bronze medallist Germany in their final pool match of the Hockey World League (HWL) Final, here on Monday.
Outstanding in one match but disastrous in another, nearperfect in one game but sloppy in the next — this has been Indian men’s hockey team’s “sorry” tale for the last few years.
Asia has already been conquered and now it’s high time the Blue Sticks do away with their inconsistent habit if they desire to be a force to reckon with at the world stage. Much was expected from the Indian team after the 1-1 draw against Australia in their opening match but “inconsistency” came back to haunt the hosts as they produced a below-par performance to lose 2-3 against England, a side which is one rung below them at world rankings at 7.
With one draw and one loss, India is currently at the bottom in Pool B with one point. The pool is being led by the Germans who have four points from one win and a draw. Even though the pool matches are there only to decide who plays whom in the quarterfinals, the Indians will be desperate to prove their critics wrong on Monday. Placed at no.6, India is just a spot below Germany in the world rankings and Marijne’s men will have to curb their inconsistency if they have to outmanoeuvre the Germans.