Mumbai: Visitors East Bengal overcame injury woes to hand over Air India their second consecutive defeat by a solitary goal in the seventh round I-League match at the Cooperage here on Saturday.
Foreign recruit Abel Hammond scored the all important goal for the visitors, who were missing the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, Renedy Singh and Sanju Pradhan due to injuries, in the 29th minute.
The hosts, however, clearly missed the services of Nigerian striker N D Opara, who had to sit out due to double booking, as they failed to create enough opportunities despite dominating the second half.
Earlier, Tapan Maity had the opportunity to open the account for the hosts but his stroke of a pass from skipper Soccor Velho was easily latched on to by the goalkeeper.
A collision between the host’s goalkeeper Arnab Das Sarma and Behnam Foroughirad forced Air India coach to substitute both with Sambhu Mistry and Harpreet Singh respectively.
Meanwhile, East Bengal were unfortunate not to add another goal to their tally as Mitrovic Srecko’s stroke off a pass from the left flank hit the horizontal bar.
Air India were a different side in the second half as they slowly took control of the proceedings. However, they failed to convert it into goals.
The Mumbai team missed an opportunity to equalise when Dada Nabeel failed to convert a chance after skipper Velho had laid the ball for him in the 76th minute.
Three minutes later East Bengal’s Yusuf Yakubu who was awarded a freekick hit the bar. The ball rebounded back to Yakubu but this time his stroke was held on by the Air India custodian.
There were some heated moments between East Bengal’s Oga Okpara and Velho over a tackle following which both were shown the yellow card. A foul was awarded to the hosts but Ravinder Singh could not make use of it.
With this win, East Bengal now have nine points from seven matches, while Air India, who lost their second consecutive match remain on five points from six matches.
Apart from Velho and Okpara, Hammond was also shown a yellow card.
Bureau Report
Meanwhile, East Bengal were unfortunate not to add another goal to their tally as Mitrovic Srecko’s stroke off a pass from the left flank hit the horizontal bar.
Air India were a different side in the second half as they slowly took control of the proceedings. However, they failed to convert it into goals.
The Mumbai team missed an opportunity to equalise when Dada Nabeel failed to convert a chance after skipper Velho had laid the ball for him in the 76th minute.
Three minutes later East Bengal’s Yusuf Yakubu who was awarded a freekick hit the bar. The ball rebounded back to Yakubu but this time his stroke was held on by the Air India custodian.
There were some heated moments between East Bengal’s Oga Okpara and Velho over a tackle following which both were shown the yellow card. A foul was awarded to the hosts but Ravinder Singh could not make use of it.
With this win, East Bengal now have nine points from seven matches, while Air India, who lost their second consecutive match remain on five points from six matches.
Apart from Velho and Okpara, Hammond was also shown a yellow card.
Bureau Report