Four given marching orders in East Bengal-Mohammedan match

Kolkata: Four players, two each from Mohammedan Sporting and East Bengal, were shown red cards by referee Biplab Poddar even as their Calcutta Premier Division football match ended in a goalless draw. Eduardo and Dipankar Roy of Mohammedan Sporting and Ugu Opara and Alvitoe D`Cunha of East Bengal were given marching orders as they got involved in a brawl besides alleged spitting and gesticulation towards the end of the second half of the game. East Bengal coach Philippe de Rider and his Mohammedan Sporting counterpart Sabbir Ali accused the referee of inept handling of the situation, which they said could have been averted. Police, club officials and coaches had to move into the ground to bring the situation under control. The play was held up for about ten minutes and resumed with both the teams playing nine players. The trouble started when Dipankar Roy trapped East Bengal`s Saikat Saha Roy illegally and the referee had to warn with a yellow card. But this was challenged by Mohammedan striker Eduardo, who had an argument with the referee. As Ugu Opara came into the scene, Eduardo was seen spitting on his face that angered Alvito, who rushed and protested. Alvito, who came in place of Kima in the 53th minute, alleged that the Brazilian player Eduardo abused him in Portuguese. When the referee`s appeal failed to bring the situation under control, he took the extreme step and showed red cards to Okpara and Eduardo and subsequently gave marching orders to Alvito and Dipankar. Coaches of both the teams admitted that this was an unfortunate incident, but alleged that the situation could have been averted by the alertness of the referee. Match commissioner Udayan Halder, however, said that the referee did not make any mistake and conducted the match well. With this draw, Mohammedans remain at the third spot in the league table after Mohun Bagan and Chirag United, with 21 points from 10 matches. While East Bengal`s point tally after this tie rose to 19, Mohun Bagan are now leading the table with 28 points from ten outings. Mohammedan defender Anupam Sarkar, who took a vital role to thwart several East Bengal attacks, was adjudged the man of the match. PTI