{"id":1759,"date":"2011-12-28T12:29:29","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T12:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1759"},"modified":"2011-12-28T12:29:29","modified_gmt":"2011-12-28T12:29:29","slug":"i-league-bagan-ride-on-odafa-brace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1759","title":{"rendered":"I-League: Bagan ride on Odafa brace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kolkata\/Margao\/Guwahati: <\/strong>Riding on a brace from Nigerian striker Odafa Okolie, McDowell Mohun Bagan defeated Air India 3-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium to move upto 24 points in the I-League football <\/a>table. Man of the Match Odafa scored one apiece for Bagan in both halves \u2013 the first in the 41st minute and the second in the 84th minute. Ashim Biswas completed the rout for Bagan in the 80th minute. In between, Md. Safi had restored parity in the 54th minute. While Bagan are on 24 points from 12 matches, Air India stay on 19 points from 12 matches.<\/p>\n

Bagan started with 3 foreigners — the duo of Barreto and Lima marshalling the midfield and Odafa Okalie <\/a>staying upfront.<\/p>\n

It was Odafa Okolie who opened the scoring for MMB in the 41st minute when after receiving a Lima pass, he shrugged off two defenders and placed the ball past Air India keeper Pawan.<\/p>\n

In the second half, Air India started on a positive note and were rewarded when Md. Safi went past Barreto to slot home past Bagan <\/a>goalkeeper Sangarm Mukherjee in the 54th minute.<\/p>\n

Just when it looked like Bagan would have to settle for another draw, Ashim Bsiwas put Bagan in the lead \u2013 and with a gem off a goal. Biswas trapped a pass from Rakesh Masih and finding the angle too close for him to have a go at the goal from the top of the box, he sidestepped Lamine to blast it home.<\/p>\n

Odafa completed the rout in the 84th minute \u2013 a solo effort which started just outside the box and ended in the net with four defenders and the goalkeeper beaten.<\/p>\n

Salgaocar look to upset East Bengal applecart: <\/strong>Salgaocar Sports Club coach Karim Bencherifa believes a win against Kingfisher East Bengal <\/a>at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Thursday could be the turning point for them in this I-League.<\/p>\n

The defending champions have struggled in this edition of the I-League but Bencherifa is drawing inspiration from last season\u2019s performance where a win against East Bengal set them on the path to the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis match can prove to be the turning point. Last year, we were found wanting prior to the match against East Bengal but a win did wonders to our campaign. We never looked back after that,\u201d said the Moroccan coach.<\/p>\n

The Salgaocar coach said his side will start as underdogs against East Bengal, despite playing the match at home and not losing to the Kolkata giants for some time now.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the position they are in at the moment. They have produced some good results and when you are placed second on the table, there is bound to be some pressure. I\u2019m sure my young players will give a good account of themselves,\u201d said Bencherifa, who will miss defender and captain Luciano Sobroza for the crucial tie.<\/p>\n

East Bengal will also be handicapped by the absence of defender Uga Okpara but coach Trevor Morgan will not allow such frailties to affect his team\u2019s march towards the title. East Bengal won their last match quite comfortably and with influential midfielder Mehtab Hossain set to make a comeback seem to possess enough ammunition to down the defending champions.
Salgaocar stay on 13 points from 11 matches while East Bengal are on 19 points from same number of matches.<\/p>\n

Pailan take on Pune FC: <\/strong>Pailan Arrows stay desperate to register a win under their belt in the I-League and they would be going all out when they take on Pune FC in a crucial 12th round clash at the Salt Lake Stadium on December 29.<\/p>\n

Pailan, who have 6 points under their belt, all courtsey drawn matches, have been distinctly unlucky on a number of occasions. But there\u2019s no point in crying over spilt milk.<\/p>\n

Coach Sujit Chakraborty and Technical Director Sukhwinder Singh have been distinctly missing the services of Shilton D\u2019Silva who suffered a knee injury in the Federation Cup.
The Arrows did have a good outing in the Federation Cup where they won their first two matches \u2013 against HAL and Mumbai FC but since then, it has been a difficult phase for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the importance of the match. The first phase of the League is coming to an end and it\u2019s our home match,\u201d is all what Technical Director Singh had to say.<\/p>\n

The match would be an emotional one for rival striker Jeje Lalpeklua, who had been a part of the nucleus of Indian Arrows last season.<\/p>\n

For the record, Pailan are on 6 points from 11 matches while Pune FC are on 18 points from 11 matches.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Lajong enjoy an edge: <\/strong>Shillong Lajong FC start as favourites when they take in Chirag Kerala in another I-League match in Guwahati. Lajong stay on 13 points from 11 matches while Chirag Kerala are on 8 points from 11 matches.<\/p>\n

Lajong who started with a bang in the season-opener, the Federation Cup where they went down to eventual champions Salgaocar haven\u2019t got off to the best of start in the I-League. Their mobility can ruffle any feather on a given day and they would be banking on Eugenson Lyngdoh and John Meyongar to spearhead their march against Chirag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kolkata\/Margao\/Guwahati: <\/strong>Riding on a brace from Nigerian striker Odafa Okolie, McDowell Mohun Bagan defeated Air India 3-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium to move upto 24 points in the I-League football <\/a>table. Man of the Match Odafa scored one apiece for Bagan in both halves \u2013 the first in the 41st minute and the second in the 84th minute. Ashim Biswas completed the rout for Bagan in the 80th minute. In between, Md. Safi had restored parity in the 54th minute. While Bagan are on 24 points from 12 matches, Air India stay on 19 points from 12 matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-football-football"],"yoast_head":"\nI-League: Bagan ride on Odafa brace - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1759\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I-League: Bagan ride on Odafa brace - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kolkata\/Margao\/Guwahati: Riding on a brace from Nigerian striker Odafa Okolie, McDowell Mohun Bagan defeated Air India 3-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium to move upto 24 points in the I-League football table. Man of the Match Odafa scored one apiece for Bagan in both halves \u2013 the first in the 41st minute and the second in the 84th minute. Ashim Biswas completed the rout for Bagan in the 80th minute. In between, Md. Safi had restored parity in the 54th minute. 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