I-League Round 22 - A Review

Monday, April 5, 2012 Report by Rajarshi Ghosh

Salgaocar SC 1 (Ryuji Sueoka – 23’)
Air India 0

Salgaocar Sports Club relied on a solitary penalty strike from Ryuji Sueoka to scrape past Air India in a 22nd round I League clash at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.

Sueoka converted a 22’ penalty to give Salgaocar three points and some good morale before they travel to Jordan for their AFC Cup clash against Al Widhat.

Salgaocar now have 39 points from 22 outings while Air India are stuck on 28 from 22 matches.

Sporting Clube de Goa 1 (Adil Khan – 70’)
Shillong Lajong 0

Sporting Clube de Goa earned full points as they beat host Shillong Lajong FC by a solitary goal in the 22nd round of I League at the JN Sports Complex.

Sporting's Adil Khan scored the only goal of the match.

It was the Shillong Lajong who started the match on a aggressive note and controlled the proceeding in the first half. However, they missed as many as three opportunities to convert otherwise the story could have been different.

With this win Sporting Clube now have 34 points from 22 matches while Shillong Lajong stays at 27 points from 22 outings.

Pune FC 3 (Mandjou Keita – 5’; Subhash Singh – 6; Arata Izumi – 39’)
Chirag Kerala 0

Pune FC made their intentions for the season clear as they thrashed Chirag United Kerala 3-0 in a Round 22 of the I-League 2011-12 at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi.

The victory powered by first half goals from Keita Mandjou, Singam Subhash Singh and Arata Izumi pushed them to 40 points and to the third spot in the League standings while Chirag languish at 17 points.

Churchill Brothers 5 (Beto – 21’ & 35’; Sukhen Dey – own goal – 45’; Henri Autchouet – 62’, Lalrindika Ralte – 75’)
Prayag United 2 (Yusif Yakubu – 43’; Josimar Martins – 80’).

Brazilian striker Roberto Mendes da Silva struck two delightful goals as Churchill Brothers demolished Prayag United 5-2 in the I-League at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.

The Brazilian striker’s wonderful goals were the highlight in the team’s win and helped the team overtake Prayag United with 38 points. Churchill has a match in hand against Pailan Arrows and this win should help them make considerable progress, although there still remains a huge gap between them and leaders Dempo Sports Club (47 points).

Prayag United stay on 37 points.

McDowell Mohun Bagan 2 (Odafa Okolie – 26’ & 33’)
Dempo SC 2 (Ranti Martins – 4’; Koko Sakibu – 77’).

Dempo Sports Club held McDowell Mohun Bagan to a 2-2 draw in a crucial I-League clash at the Salt Lake Stadium. The draw consolidates Dempo’s position at the top of the table on 47 points from 22 points while Mohun Bagan move to 39 points from 22 matches.