United hold East Bengal 1-1
substitute Jaison Valles struck in the stoppage time to give Churchill Brothers their first win as they beat Sporting Clube de Goa 3-2 in an I-League match here on Thursday.
This victory takes the defending champions back to 12th spot in the table with seven points, displacing Rangdajied United FC, who have five.
The Blues are now the only team yet to win a match this season.
Churchill Brothers took the lead through Abdel Hamid Shabana in the second minute before Sporting equalised through Boima Karpeh in the 5th minute.
Churchill again took the lead in the 37th minute through Balwant Singh before Sporting Clube de Goa, who gave a good account in the second half, equalised through Pratesh Shirodkar in the 89th minute.
Substitute Jaison Valles than headed home a high cross from the right by Lenny Rodrigues in stoppage time to give Churchill Brothers their first win.
Sporting, looking to move to the top of the ladder, remained in fifth position with 15 points from 10 matches.
Churchill Brothers went winless for nine matches earlier. Their new foreign recruits – Egyptian Abdel Hamid Shabana and Syrian Naser Al Sebai who made their debuts – did not let the team down.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, diminutive United SC defender Dhanachandra Singh’s second half strike earned his team a fine 1-1 draw against fancied East Bengal in their 11th round I-League match at the floodlit Salt Lake Stadium.
Fresh from their earlier derby victory against Mohun Bagan on Sunday, East Bengal started in an inspiring fashion with Edeh Chidi’s 32nd minute goal but Dhanachandra headed in the equaliser in the 59th minute, dodging past burly Uga Okpara to take some points off their fancied local opponents.
United now have 16 points from 10 matches, while East Bengal have 11 from seven outings.
United are in fourth place, while EB are eighth having played three matches less than the teams around them.
For newly-appointed East Bengal coach Armando Colaco, who started his stint with a fine win over bitter foes Bagan, the draw may be demoralising as they now hit the road for five consecutive away fixtures.
East Bengal sprung into action rightway when derby hero Lalrindika Ralte looked to threaten the opposition with a fine freekick which beat Ishan Debanth before hitting the post on its way.
The red-and-gold brigade clearly looked more penetrating in the first half.
United SC too benefitted from a dubious decision when a penalty was ruled out with Debnath bringing down Chidi inside the box.
But moments later the Nigerian fired in the lead utilising a Saumik Dey header.
East Bengal was also wasteful after the changeover with Ryuji Sueoka missed an easy chance to double the lead.
But United SC were in no mood to give up with Dhanachandra scoring the all important goal beating the tall Okpara, in one rare lapse by the burly EB defender. (PTI)