Mohun Bagan ride Eze’s goal to edges past East Bengal 1-0
Real stumbles against Bilbao
Manchester United ended Arsenal's 12 -match home winning run in a breathless encounter to close the gap on Manchester City but Tottenham slipped further off the pace with a costly draw at Watford.
United's 3-1 victory took them to within five points of the Premier League summit following emphatic wins for Chelsea and Liverpool earlier in the day.
But Mauricio Pochettino must find a way of lifting struggling Spurs after they Mohun Bagan rode on Nigerian centre-back Kingsley Eze's first-half header to down arch-rivals East Bengal 1-0 in a heated Kolkata derby and claim their first win of the 201718 I-League at a packed Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Sunday.
The lunchtime kick-off saw 64,630 spectators turn up for the marquee fixture being played at the colossal venue after a gap of almost two years.
Eze scored in the 39th minute to give the 'home team' the lead. He was impressive at the heart of the Mohun Bagan defence and weathered a string of efforts by East Bengal in the second half along with Kingshuk Debnath to help seal the three points.
East Bengal were disappointing throughout the match. They lacked teeth up front and failed to deliver in the final third.
Courtesy the result, Mohun Bagan now have four points from two games while East Bengal remain on one point from two outings.
Mohun Bagan made three changes from the last game against Minerva Punjab FC with Yuta Kinowaki making a comeback dropped two more points against Watford with a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road that leaves them 15 points off the pace.
Jose Mourinho took his team to the Emirates with questions over how they would approach the fixture after a poor recent away record against fellow members of the "Big Six".
But United quashed all thoughts of shutting up shop and were immediately on the front foot, taking the lead through captain Antonio Valencia in the fourth minute and doubling their lead just minutes later through inform from injury.
East Bengal ringed in the same number of changes. Luis Barreto was preferred over Mirshad between the sticks with Mohammed Rafique and Salam Ranjan Singh making way for veteran Gurwinder Singh and Laldanmawia Ralte.
In the first 20 minutes, tackles flew in thick and Jesse Lingard.
Arsenal came back strongly, attacking in waves and pulled a goal back early in the second half through Alexandre Lacazette but United reestablished a two-goal margin through Lingard again. As the match lost some of its high-octane momentum, referee Andre Marriner sent off Paul Pogba for a studs-up tackle on Hector Bellerin to change the balance of the contest, but Arsenal could not take advantage.
With the Manchester derby looming next week at Old Trafford, United have a chance to haul themselves fast with Mohun Bagan's Dipanda Dicka the victim of some debatable refereeing decisions.
The 'home team' came close to taking the lead in the 33rd minute when Kingsley's powerful header was parried away as far as the far-post by keeper Barreto before Kinowaki's effort on the rebound was cleared by East Bengal defenders right back into the title race though Mourinho will be devastated to lose the services of midfielder Pogba.
"I loved the way my team played and fought," said Mourinho. " Arsenal played in some period amazing attacking football -- creating difficulties for us. But I have to say that my players deserve all the great words.
"I don't know so many in English but amazing, phenomenal, fantastic. They deserved three points." Wenger commented: "I am really disappointed because it was a good performance, but we had nothing to show for it at the end and that is hard to take."
In a thrilling end-to-end contest United looked irresistible on the break but Arsenal enjoyed more than 70 percent of possession in the first half, hitting 15 shots as David De Gea's goal led a charmed life.
The Spaniard was incredible throughout but the highlight was an astonishing double save to keep United's lead intact at 2-1. Mourinho hailed the display as "the best from a goalkeeper in the world".
Eden Hazard's eye-catching performance in their comfortable win in the early fixture at Stamford Bridge will mean sleepless nights for England boss Gareth Southgate, who has the unenviable task of nullifying the Belgian's threat at next year's World Cup in Russia. from a goalmouth melee.
Minutes later, Sanjoy Sen's charges took the lead sending their supporters in front of East Bengal's goal into wild celebrations.
Norde's corner was flicked on by Kinowaki into the path of Kingsley who nodded in from close to score against his former Real Madrid failed to gain ground on first-placed FC Barcelona in the 14th-round action in the Spanish football league, having to settle for a scoreless draw against host Athletic Bilbao.
Both teams had chances on the opponent's goal in the first half at San Mames Stadium in this northern city, with the best opportunity coming on a shot by Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in the seventh minute that clanked off the woodwork on Saturday.
Isco set up the play with a cross from the left side that found the Frenchman, who maneuvered around Mikel Balenziaga and fired a leftfooted shot that nearly found the mark.
But Athletic responded after coach Khalid Jamil with whom he won the I-League at Aizawl FC last season.
After the breather, East Bengal threw everything at their eternal rivals to restore parity. At the heart of their forays was Syrian midfielder Mahmoud Al Amna.
The former Aizawl FC schemer played in the middle of the park, trying to set up Willis Plaza ahead of him, and even drifted wide on a few occasions in the hope of delivering an incisive cross.
Looking to protect their slender lead, Mohun Bagan took off Dicka and drafted in defensive midfielder Shilton D'Silva.
Katsumi got a free kick five minutes into the hour mark from a good-looking area, but failed to keep the ball on target from 25 yards out.
Plaza got a golden opportunity to equalise, but the Trinidadian striker dillydallied with his backs to the wall for Shilton Paul to smother the ball.
Shilton then pulled off a top save off a Laldanmawia curling shot from inside the box.
East Bengal threw the kitchen sink at Mohun Bagan in the dying minutes of the game with an Al Amna shot and Katsumi corner failing to bear fruit. that early scare, dictating the play on the field and nearly finding the back of the net on its first scoring opportunity -- a point-blank header by Aritz Aduriz that goalie Keylor Navas managed to deflect.
The hosts also got off to a strong start in the second half, but the Blancos then seized complete control and threatened the opposing goal with a volley by Cristiano Ronaldo and two potent blasts off the foot of Marcelo, one of which was deflected away by Athletic Bilbao net minder Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Real Madrid maintained that momentum until defender Sergio Ramos was sent off for a second yellow card in the 87th minute, after which the home side tried unsuccessfully to notch the late winner.
With the draw, Real Madrid (28 points) remains in fourth MUMBAI: Indian Cultural League (ICL) struck prime form and marched to a facile 3-0 victory against Sahyadri Krida Mandal in a First Division match of the MDFA League, played at the St. Xavier’s ground, Parel. Meanwhile, in a Second Division match, N.B. Challengers also enjoyed a good successful outing as they tamed GKW Rangers FC ‘A’ by a 4-1 margin. For the victors, the goals came through Mithum Manna, Abdul khan, Rakshit Singh and Rakesh Chandran, all scoring one each, while GKW Rangers pulled one back through Sheldon Menezes. Results (First Div): Indian Cultural League 3 (Anand Pawar 18, Shubham Pose 63, Hrishikesh Nirulkar 78) beat Sahyadri Krida Mandal 0. Second Div: N.B. Challengers 4 (Mithum Manna, Abdul khan, Rakshit Singh, Rakesh Chandran) beat GKW Rangers FC 'A' 1 (Sheldon Menezes). MUMBAI: Showing good understanding and fine finishing Central Railway (Headquarters) cashed in on the chances that came their way to record an authoritative 4-1 win against Springfield FC in a Super Division match of the MDFA League 2017-2018 and played at the Goan’s Sports Association ground on Sunday. For the railway outfit Sajadeep Singh got a brace of goals and Shahbaz Pathan and Manoj Yadav added one each, while Springfield scored late through Nayan Kamble. Central Railway were dominant from the start and did not take long to open the scoring as Pathan fired the first salvo in the very sixth minute and 10 minutes later Sajandeep scored first of his two goals to double lead.Yadav increased the lead scoring the third in the 43rd minute as Central went into the break with a healthy 3-0 advantage. In the second half, Central scored their fourth goal when Sajandeep was again on target in the 55th minute. Springfield reduced the margin through Nayan Kamble. place in the La Liga standings. The defending champions are still eight points behind league-leading FC Barcelona (36 points), which drew 2-2 Saturday with Celta Vigo; but they now trail thirdplaced Atletico Madrid, a 2-1 winner Saturday over Real Sociedad, by two points.