The game began with The Red & Golds understandably on the attack and pressing hard to take an early lead. Their first attempt to score came as early as in the 2nd minute of the game, but QEB were unable to draw first blood.

As the half progressed, however, QEB looked more under pressure to score and the hosts slowly but surely began to take charge. QEB also showcased high quality in defence and along with some stellar goalkeeping by Rakhsit Dagar ensured that the hosts did not take a lead.

Gokulam came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, with the closest chance coming in the 39th minute, but an improbable single-handed save by Dagar ensured that Trinidadian striker Marcus Joseph was foiled from close. The half-finished goalless.

QEB began the second half stronger as well and a Didika Ralte effort in the 62nd minute hit the right upright. The hosts, however, stunned the visitors when Marcus scored a wonderful goal off a slick Gokulam move.

Arjun Jayaraj passed ahead to Emmanuel just outside the top of the box and the Nigerian’s deft backheel set Marcus on his way on the left. The Trinidadian drove inside and unleashed an angled left-footer beating Dagar all ends-up.

QEB then increased the pressure and 10 minutes later Jamie Santos Colado restored parity off a penalty and Danmawia then put the Red & Golds ahead in the 85th minute with an opportunistic goal.

However, those two goals were not enough till the end as Chennai City FC romped home to their maiden league crown with the 3-1 win over former champions Minerva Punjab FC in Coimbatore.

Also Read: Bora takes center stage as Chennai City create history!

Also Read: Real Kashmir to the fore as Farooq brace sinks Neroca

Also Read: Bagan go out on a high against Shillong

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Laldanmawia Ralte, Lalrindika Ralte, Brandon Vanlalremdika and Lalram Chullova have all been key players for East Bengal in the current Hero I-League, which can very well see the ‘Red and Gold’ lift the trophy – given Chennai City FC drop points against Minerva Punjab FC, and Quess East Bengal win against Gokulam Kerala FC.

After spending two seasons away, it was a homecoming for Lalrindika Ralte when he signed for QEBFC for the current season. The other three players joined the Kolkata giant in 2017 from former Hero I-League champions Aizawl FC, and this assimilation built a great bonding flavour in the Red and Gold camp.

While the Red and Gold dressing room has players is a wonderful symphony of cosmopolitan culture, the little chats or convenient interactions in mother tongue for the Mizoram players helps them to connect better. The hard work during training and the relaxed dressing room environment has shown its colours on the bright performance of the Mizo Brigade.

After an eight-match unbeaten streak, Quess East Bengal sit a point adrift of leaders Chennai City, with 39 points. With March 9 being the showdown, the Mizo Quartet will play a vital role to ensure Quess East Bengal FC success and lift the coveted I-League championship.

Also Read: Joseph winner helps Gokulam steer clear of relegation

Also Read: Esqueda and East Bengal take title race to final day!

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Mumbai, 8^th October, 2014: Hero Indian Super League title aspirants Mumbai City FC warmed up in style for the tournament’s opener against Atletico de Kolkata with clinical victories in their four friendlies in the city so far. The Mumbai City FC team flies to Kolkata on 9^th October to prepare for the inaugural match of Hero ISL tournament against Atletico de Kolkata at Salt Lake Stadium, on 12^th October 2014.

Promoted by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and Chartered Accountant Bimal Parekh, the club is determined to make an immediate impact on the Hero Indian Super League and the squad has been undergoing an extensive pre-season camp and playing friendlies to gauge the progress by implanting some of the ideas they practice in training and helping the foreign and Indian players in the squad understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses in actual match conditions.

The team began with a 6-0 thumping of Union Bank at Father Agnel Ground, Vashi, before registering a 3-2 victory over former I-League club Air India. In their two friendlies, at the Cooperage, the team hammered DSK Shivajians 6-1 and then beat another former I-league team ONGC 2-1 with former French international Nicolas Anelka playing a starring role.

The idea of such friendlies is to help the players of different playing styles and countries to gel together and adapt to a system that the team would want to follow through the main tournament.

The purpose was definitely achieved as they not only won all their four matches, but manager Peter Reid would be particularly happy that the likes of Syed Rahim Nabi and Nadong Bhutia have turned provider for their foreign stars with Argentine recruit Diego Nadaya already showcasing what he is capable of with seven goals, including two hat-tricks, for the team in the four friendlies.

The Goal scorers include the former India international Subhash Singh and Lalrindika Ralte, the youngster with the best left-foot in Indian football, apart from the up and coming Bhutia.

But more than the goals and the victories what would have pleased Reid would be the numbers in the shots on target and crosses made inside the opponent’s penalty box. In the four matches, the average shots on targets went into doubles figures and the number of crosses and corners were double of the shots on target.

This clearly means that the mid-field and the forward line is complementing each other, which augurs well for the lung opener on Sunday.

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Mumbai City FC opened the scoring in the 8^th minute when Lalrindika Ralte (Dika) unleashed a bullet from long range after a good exchange of passes with Nicolas Anelka & Jan Stohanzl. The ISL team were looking very sharp with their passing and kept most of the possession during the game.

ONGC were finding it very difficult to cope with the playing style of this vastly experienced  team, although they did well with their defending they were undone by a set piece in the 2^nd half, when the ONGC goalkeeper completely misjudged a corner kick, Mumbai City FC defender Peter Costa capitalized on the mistake and nodded the ball home to claim the 2^nd goal of the game.

ONGC kept fighting hard to get back into the game and their efforts paid off in the 85^th minute, while keeping the pressure on the Mumbai City FC defence, a miscommunication between goalkeeper and defender led to an own goal. ONGC missed a glorious chance to grab the equalizer at the death.

Mumbai City FC are looking in very good shape for the upcoming ISL season and are tipped as the firm favorites in the competition. We hope all you Mumbaikars support our Mumbai franchise! Catch them in action in their opening game against Atletico De Kolkata at the Salt Lake Stadium on the 17th of October 2014.

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