After suffering defeat in their opening fixture, Indian Navy entered the contest determined to respond positively, while NEROCA FC looked to build on their encouraging start. The match began at a high tempo, with both teams pressing aggressively and battling fiercely in midfield. Challenging ground conditions made fluent football difficult, resulting in a tightly contested opening where neither side was able to dominate possession.

NEROCA came close to opening the scoring midway through the first half after a clever move involving Ngathem Imarson Meitei and Modou Mbengue. The Senegalese forward burst into the penalty area before attempting to square the ball across goal, but his delivery was just beyond the reach of David Singh. Mbengue also tested goalkeeper Bhaskar Roy from distance, though the Indian Navy custodian dealt comfortably with the effort.

The breakthrough arrived midway through the opening half through a moment of quality from the Sailors. Vijay Marandi floated a perfectly weighted chipped pass over the NEROCA defence for Roshan Panna, who showed great composure to round goalkeeper Penand Singh before calmly finishing into an empty net to hand Indian Navy a deserved lead.

The Sailors controlled proceedings for the remainder of the first half, keeping possession well and preventing NEROCA from creating meaningful opportunities. The hosts were largely restricted to crosses from wide areas, all of which were comfortably dealt with by the Navy defence as the visitors carried a 1-0 advantage into the break.

Indian Navy continued to dictate the tempo after the restart, moving the ball confidently through midfield and creating another promising opportunity when Zahir Khan released Vijay Marandi inside the box. However, the forward dragged his effort wide of the target.

Their persistence was rewarded just after the hour mark through an inspired piece of individual brilliance from E. Muhammed Inayath. The midfielder danced past two defenders before driving towards the byline and attempting a cross. Instead, the ball looped over the backtracking goalkeeper and nestled into the far corner, doubling Indian Navy’s advantage in spectacular fashion.

NEROCA pushed forward in search of a way back into the contest and enjoyed a few promising moments late in the game. Substitute Sridarth Nongmeikapam squandered a golden opportunity from close range following a goalmouth scramble, while Chabungbam Linky Meitei also failed to hit the target after finding space inside the penalty area.

At the other end, Indian Navy looked dangerous on the counterattack, with substitute Pangambam Naoba Meitei causing constant problems down the right flank. The youngster nearly added a third goal himself before creating another chance for Sreyas V.G., only for Penand Singh to produce two outstanding saves in quick succession.

Indian Navy comfortably managed the closing stages to seal a deserved 2-0 victory and bounce back strongly from their opening defeat. The result lifts the Sailors to second place in Group D and gives them valuable momentum heading into their remaining fixtures, while NEROCA FC will look to recover quickly as they continue their search for a first win of the campaign.

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The post Indian Navy FT Bounce Back with Convincing Win Over NEROCA FC appeared first on Football Counter.

That may be true given Bagan coach Sankarlal Chakraborty’s assessment: “Real Kashmir’s team confidence level is in a very good position because of the points on the league table. In the last two matches, they have won one and drawn the other game with big club teams. They have been performing pretty well.”

Kashmir have had a dream run in the Hero I-League so far. And victory at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) would take them within touching distance of second-placed Neroca FC.

The debutantes are on a six-game unbeaten streak with three of those wins coming away from home. Of course they did lose to Bagan in the previous leg at home…but that was in the past!

If rock-solid defending is the hallmark for Kashmir (the 1-1 draw against East Bengal at the VYBK is a good example) then the same cannot be said for Bagan.

“We have played Mohun Bagan in our TRC ground, but we didn’t do enough to get something from the game. We just hope we will be able to play well tomorrow again as we played the last match. It was the first time that many of our players are playing on such a big stage. Although Mohun Bagan have lost the last match when a team loses they do have a high possibility of bouncing back,” said David Robertson (coach, Real Kashmir).

“We are in good form. We have done a lot better than expected. Since March 2017 we haven’t lost a single away match, (but) at some point it will break. As long as we keep playing and fighting as we have been, then we have half a chance tomorrow. If you don’t keep eye on strikers of Mohun Bagan for full 90 minutes, they might cause a problem just like what happened in TRC ground. We are a big club. We’ve just got to continue defensively. We have been very good and we have to make sure to remain tight. We know it for sure that it is going to be a tough game,” he added.

While Kashmir has conceded only six times so far Bagan has leaked in twice the number of goals. The duo of Kofi Tetteh and Gnohere Krizo may run rings around the home team who welcome back Sony Norde.

“Sony Norde is fit and will be there in first 18. We will be playing tomorrow’s match for winning the three points. Kashmir is a very good team, especially their foreigners – very strong physically as well as technically too and the local players who are also working as a team, bringing them to the top of the league. We have been showing a positive attitude towards improving in both attacking as well as in defence too,” said Chakraborty.

Bagan need Dipanda Dicka and Henry Kisekka (the duo have a combined total of eight goals) to fire while Kashmir may play the waiting game.

Though Kashmir have Bilal Khan (goalkeeper) and Loveday, Katebe, Mason Roebrtson, Dharmaraj Ravanan and Abhash Thapa (all defenders) still write Bagan off at your own peril on Sunday!

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Manzi scored in the eighth, 59th and 80th minutes to cancel out Mudde Musa (17th minute) and Joel Sunday’s (38th minute) goals for Gokulam. It may be noted that both sides were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half.

Chennai dominated possession and took advantage of the extra space which had opened up in the second half. With this win, Chennai move to 24 points from eleven games and are three clear of Neroca FC at the top of the standings. 

Gokulam remain at eighth…their title hopes well and truly buried!  They adopted physical tactics to stop the marauding Spaniards of Chennai and it seemed to have worked initially. Despite the Kerala outfit taking a lead into the break the hosts later clawed their way back in the second half.

Coach Bino George selected Joel Sunday and Rajesh in place of Fabricio Ortiz (out for a card offence) and Pritam Singh. The hosts made one change as they brought back Romario Jesuraj for Vijay.

Chennai took the lead in the eighth minute when Manzi’s first-time volley bounced and eluded keeper Shibinraj. Though defender Abhishek Das tried to clear off the line it still went onto the roof of the Gokulam net!

Gokulam equalized nine minutes later as Musa’s reflex shot bulged the roof of the Chennai net. The Kerala outfit soon earned a penalty as Marton Eugene was judged to have handled the ball inside the box.

Though Sunday, after having scored off a penalty in the previous game, missed this time around (thanks to a fine save by Santana) he still hit home on the rebound to score his third goal of the campaign.

Also, Gokulam’s Jayaraj and Chennai’s Pandiyan Srinivasan got into a needless scuffle and were promptly sent off just before half-time.

Chennai upped the ante in the second-half while Gokulam’s Christian Sabah missed a golden chance to score. And as Sandro hit the side netting in the 58th minute…Chennai knew they were getting closer to a goal!

A minute later, Manzi struck his second (and ninth in the league) goal as he shrugged off Abhishek Das to head over Shibinraj into the Gokulam goal. Chennai were back on level terms!

Manzi got his hat-trick in the 80th minute when he pounced on the rebound ahead of a defender and drilled it into the Gokulam net. With that goal he became top-scorer in the league with 10 goals so far.

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The game also marks the beginning of the second half of the top-flight football league. Both teams will play their 11th game, having completed the first round of 10 games in the 11-team league. The winner of the Hero I-League will only emerge after the completion of the second round of 10 games for each team.

Neroca seem like a formidable unit under the stewardship of Spanish coach Manuel Fraile. Also, the return of key players like Katsumi Yusa, Singham Subhash Singh and Lalit Thapa will give them a major shot in the arm.

It may be noted that their Australian medio Aryn Glen Williams, striker Felix Chidi and defenders Eduardo, Varney Kallon and Ashok Singh are in good form. It would be difficult for the Shillong youngsters to play against this bunch at home!

“We must have focus because this team is now different. Now they are trying not to get relegated, take points. We are in very good momentum now. To be honest, we must get those three points, because our next game is against Mohun Bagan again,” said Fraile who displayed cautious optimism in the pre-match press chat.

On the other hand, Shillong will try and take heart from their previous game against Neroca where they lost 1-2 after a hard-fought clash. Buam scored a wonderful goal in that game and the likes of Sheen and captain Samuel Lalmuanpuia would also aim to replicate the good form displayed then.

Coach Alsion Kharsyntiew who chose to look at the positives had this to say: “I know we have been losing all other games, but if you look at the positive side it is good development for the young players. Tomorrow is a very important match for us as we need three points. I know it is difficult against Neroca. It is a good team with good experienced players but hopefully, our players will perform tomorrow. Last year when we were here we won our three points so hope to win it this year too.”

He, however, has injury concerns with defenders Rakesh Pradhan and Aibhan missing the last game. Also, his team’s unwanted record of having conceded a whopping 30 goals (by far the highest in the league) is a stat that cannot be overlooked.

Shillong have scored 11 goals so far while Neroca have 13 — an indicator of where the game may be won or lost.

The home side are unbeaten in their last five games, while Shillong were on the receiving end of a couple of 1-6 drubbings in two of their last three games. As things stand it would be tough for Shillong to stop Neroca.

But given that they possess a fearless young attack…you never know!

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