Sporting knock out Rangdajied to reach semis; Bagan also go through
Day was a rather gloomy affair in Kerala, with both Shillong Lajong FC and Rangdajied United FC ending their Federation Cup campaigns in contrasting styles on Tuesday.
While Lajong did win their match against Mumbai 4-0, which included a hat-trick from striker Cornell Glen, that was not enough for them to remain in contention for a semifinal spot and, in any case, Mohun Bagan did what they needed by later drawing with Salgaocar 1-1 to top Group C in Kochi.
Meanwhile, Group B action in Manjeri saw Rangdajied downed 2-0 by Sporting Clube de Goa, who progressed to the semifinals thanks to East Bengal’s 2-0 victory over Bengaluru FC in the later fixture.
Sporting thus top Group B with six points with defending champions East Bengal second on six, ahead of Bengaluru on a head-to-head basis as well as goal difference. Rangdajied bring up the rear with two points.
Group C has the Mariners on top with seven points with Lajong second on six. Salgaocar have four and Mumbai failed to earn a single point from their three games.
It was always going to be difficult for Lajong to qualify for the knockout stage as they had to overcome a daunting goal difference that separated them and Bagan.
Nevertheless, they pushed ahead and earned four goals, with Glen getting the first via a penalty after being brought down in the box by opposition goalkeeper Kunal Sawant.
Boithang Haokip then demonstrated how dangerous he can be with a thunderous 25-yard strike that Sawant could do nothing about in the 24th minute.
Mumbai were not outshone, however, with Henry Ezeh and Yusif Yakubu always lurking dangerously in the Lajong half.
Ezeh was unlucky not to earn at least one goal when his shot deflected off SLFC keeper Vinay Singh and hit the upright without then going in.
Indeed, throughout the match, Mumbai had more of the possession and more shots on target, but none of this counted in terms of goals for the team.
The Mumbai forwards were brilliant at deceiving Lajong’s defenders but just could not find the back of the net. Vinay, in fact, had a stellar day under the bar, keeping the opponents at bay.
The teams went into the second half with Lajong leading 2-0 and Glen quickly made it three-nil in the 53rd minute. The Trinidadian intercepted a pass from Subash Singh and slotted the ball in.
In stoppage time Glen was brought down just outside the box. Although it is usually Boithang who takes free kicks, the striker stepped up for this one, curling the ball beautifully around the defensive wall and beating Sawant for his hat-trick.
Speaking after the match, Glen said that he has been busy in training.
“I’ve been practising my free kicks. Boithang is usually the one to take them, but I really wanted a hat-trick today,” he said.
Although happy with the triple strike, Glen said that “It’s bittersweet not to make the semis. It’s been hard on the players to play three games in six days and we’ll go back to Shillong, get some rest and prepare for the I-League.
“We can learn a lot from the Mohun Bagan game (where the Reds lost 6-0). There’s lots of work to be done defensively and offensively,” he added.
SLFC coach Thangboi Singto rued the heavy defeat to the Mariners.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t get goals in the second game, but credit to the boys for bouncing back here,” Singto said.
“As a team, I-League is our focus and they’ll take some positives from this match.”
Rangdajied left feeling a little blue
Meanwhile, Boima Karpeh and Victorino Fernandes scored second half goals to beat Rangdajied.
The two teams started out evenly as they battled for the upper hand.
The Blues performed quite well, but a couple of headers from Kim Song Yong and Edmar Figueira missed the mark, ending any chance of the team’s progression.
With the group stage now at an end, the semifinal line-up has been finalised.
Mohun Bagan will clash with Group A toppers Churchill Brothers in the first match, while Sporting Clube de Goa will take on Dempo from Group D.
Both matches will take place in Kochi on Thursday.
Churchill are the only team to have won all three of their games, perhaps surprisingly as they are the rank bottom club in the I-League.
In fact, this edition of the Federation Cup has thrown up a few surprises, with holders East Bengal knocked out, despite winning on Tuesday against Bengaluru, who are the I-League leaders and who were also taken out.
The legendary Mohun Bagan, with plenty of history behind them are only sixth in the I-League table, with Dempo 10th, leaving it to anyone’s guess as to who will win the Fed Cup this year.