Mohun Bagan to face Sporting in I-League tomorrow

Margao, Nov 6 : Kolkata's Mohun Bagan have a chance to score full points when they lock horns against lowly-placed Sporting Club de Goa in their seventh round ONGC I-League Football championship match, to be played at Nehru stadium Fatorda here tomorrow.

Season campaiger Bagan, placed sixth with nine points in their kitty with three wins and three losses from six outings, look impressive, having slammed 13 goals out of the six outings. They beat Viva Kerala 2-0, their traditional rival East Bengal by 5-3 and Shillong Lajong by 2-1 in row but have to bounce back from 1-2 defeat suffered against Mumbai Football Club in the last outing.

Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa expressed happiness with his team. He said few key players, like Jose Ramirez Barreto, have some injuries.

''My boys will forget the last defeat suffered against Mumbai Football Club and are raring to go. Sporting will be playing in front of home crowd but we will give a good fight,'' the coach said.

Bagan have superior striking power with mercurial Edeh Chidi, who had struck four goals including hat-trick against East Bengal. He looks in good form, while in the forward line are Marcos Pereira and Manish Mathani. Their midfield also combines well with Snehasish Chakraborthy and Surkumar Singh.

Bagan conceded 11 goals in the last six matches, which speaks about their weak defence.

On the other hand, local Sporting Club de Goa had not registered a single victory and are at the bottom with two points from two drawn matches out of five outings. The home team have to pull up their socks and play more aggresive game to register their first victory.

Sporting, who had put up a creditable performance against Chirag United in the last outing, are hoping a win tomorrow using home advatage. They will have to erect a rock solid defence to contain the visitor's quick footed forward especially Chidi and Pereira.

To add to Sporting's woes, their dependable forward Ellijah Junior will be out tomorrow, as he has knee injury and lot will depend on Nathnial Amos, Micheal Toyo, Bibian Ferandes, Angnelo Colaco, Anthony D'Souza and Joseph Pereira to deliver the goods.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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