The Hindu : Sport / Football : East Bengal shuts out JCT, in semifinals

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Monday, Sep 10, 2007
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East Bengal shuts out JCT, in semifinals

Vijay Lokapally

Comfortable win for Mohun Bagan

LUDHIANA: The lion was bearded in its own den when, in a pacy but rough encounter, East Bengal shut out JCT 3-2 to enter the semifinals of the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup at the Guru Nanak Dev Stadium here on Sunday.

Earlier, Mohun Bagan, playing at half pace, scored a comfortable 3-1 win over Viva Kerala in a dreary quarterfinal.

The pressure was clearly on JCT to perform in front of home fans. East Bengal did not relent despite JCT showing early signs of dictating. But the trend changed once East Bengal called the shots through some exceptional work by Rahim Nabi, who moved up to harass the JCT defence.

Nabi controlled the midfield in the company of Jayanta Sen, Meharajuddin Wadoo and Alvito D’Cunha. The exchanges were furious and the pace rattling after East Bengal forged ahead in the 15th minute.

Stunning drive

In a well-crafted assault, Surkumar Singh left his defensive post and moved to the edge of the rival box to find Nabi. It was a splendid one-two and Nabi backpassed for Surkumar to finish with a stunning drive that dipped into the goal. JCT, unflustered, attacked with greater vigour. Julius Akpele came close to scoring twice. He first headed strongly but hit the right post and then shot narrowly out. East Bengal goal was under a siege but it was JCT that collapsed at the other end.

Alvito and Nabi began a move in the 44th minute that left the JCT defence in a trance. Alvito’s floater was met firmly by Nabi who saw his shot blocked by goalkeeper Karanjit Singh but Edmilson Marques slotted in in the rebound.

JCT pulled one back in the fifth minute on resumption when an off-colour Eduardo Escobar was brought down by Alvito and the Brazilian made no mistake with the penalty. JCT parked itself in the East Bengal territory but it was the latter that increased the lead in the 73rd minute when Alvito presented Edmilson with a beauty and the Brazilian grabbed the chance gleefully.

Parveen Kumar reduced the margin for JCT in injury time but it was too late to prevent East Bengal’s expected clash with Mohun Bagan.

Meanwhile, JCT goalkeeper Karanjeet Singh suffered a head injury and had to be hospitalised.

Tough match

Mohun Bagan coach Carlos Pereira was not happy but spared his players the criticism. “The whole night they have been running to the toilet. I am carrying medicine to stop their visits to the toilet. We had a tough match only because of this.”

Those suffering from stomach upset were Barreto, Peter Siddiqui, Dharamjit Singh, Rauf Khan, Ishfaq Ahmed and Peter Odafe while Bhutia was down with fever. “I don’t know how many would be fit for the next match,” said a worried Pereira.

Mohun Bagan went ahead courtesy the opportunistic Barreto, who connected in a melee when Odafe headed down a cross by Dharamjit Singh in the 15thminute. Viva Kerala retaliated strongly but Satish Kumar incredibly lobbed over an advancing Sangram Mukherjee.

Against the run of play, Mohun Bagan increased the lead when substitute Ishfaq Ahmed, chasing a long ball by S. Venkatesh, worked his way past two defenders and lobbed over a helpless T.G. Purshothaman.

Six minutes into the second session, Viva Kerala scored when P. Sajesh succeeded from 30 yards.

Mohun Bagan’s third goal in the 56th minute was a creation by Barreto again. His back-flip found an unmarked P.C. Lalawmpuia, who tapped in comfortably.

The results: Mohun Bagan 3 (Jose Barreto (15th), Ishfaq Ahmed (39th), P.C. Lalawmpuia (56th) bt Viva Kerala 1 (P. Sajesh (51st).