Air India’s Late Take Off Seals The Deal Against 10 Man KSA

by Nixon Rodrigues November 18, 2014

Air India had some what of a tough outing as they left it late to seal the points with a 5-2 victory against a 10-man Karnataka Sporting Association (KSA) in an Elite Division match of the MDFA (Mumbai District Football Association) League – 2014-15, played at the Cooperage ground on Monday 17th November 2014.

It was quiet a surprise when newly promoted KSA took the lead through Tarique Ansari in the 24th minute, when he latched on to a rebound after the Air India keeper struggled  to deal with a powerful shot from Ahiri Uchena.

Air India came back  with an immediate reply as they grabbed the equalizer just 2 minutes later, Ashkar C.V’s goal bound shot took a wicked deflection of a KSA defender completely beating Kishan Sulegai in goal  for KSA.

Although the goal never seemed to deter the new comers, as they continued to attack with the same vigour, their efforts were rewarded in the 34th minute when Ahiri Uchena did brilliantly to control a long throw by Fabian and converted the opportunity with ease.

Air India were quick to reduce the margin again in the 42nd minute with Praveen Sharma’s composed finish after they took advantage of KSA being down to 10 men, when Souvaid Ansari was sent off by referee Abhishek Dey for a second yellow card offence just minutes earlier. Both teams went into the break with a the scores tied at 2 a piece.

KSA knew they would have a rough ride in the 2nd half playing with just 10 but much credit to their players: Captain and stopper back Shabbir Ali, Sam Cruz, Sherwyn Chang & Valentine Pereira, who did all the hard work to keep Air India from getting that all important goal that would put them in the lead.

It took Air India until the 88th minute to break KSA’s water tight defence, all be it by an unfortunate own goal when keeper Kishan failed to collect a cross from the left flank, misjudging the flight of the ball, unexpectedly it went in off a deflection from Ryan Kolarikkal who was caught  completely unaware  as he was covering for Kishan right behind him. The goal then opened the flood gates for another two after the 90, as a demoralized KSA looked to have given up the fight towards the end.

Air India completed the rout with goals by Vijith Shetty in the 93rd and Sagar Chile in the 94th minute making the scoreline a convincing 5-2.

It was quite a show by Karnatak Sporting Association, despite the loss the newly promoted side gave the defending champions a run for their money with a resolute performance in their very first game of the Elite division.

The win has now put Air India in the 3rd spot behind Mumbai Customs having a superior goal difference with 7 points after 3 games.