On-fire Blues move up to 8th spot
SHILLONG: Rangdajied United FC earned their third victory in a row, handing Mohun Bagan a 3-1 defeat at the JN Stadium, Polo, on Saturday, as they put plenty of space between them and the relegation zone.
The Blues have now moved up to eighth spot in the table, leaping over three teams, and are now only five points behind city rivals Shillong Lajong FC with five games to play, including a Shillong derby next month.
The hosts put three goals past the Mariners within 38 minutes before Odafa Okolie pulled one back for the visitors.
Tomba Singh opened the goal fest in the 20th minute before Kim Song Yong and Ranti Martins added two more.
The first goal was a stunning long-range effort by Tomba from just inside the Bagan half.
Captain Eugeneson Lyngdoh took the ball deep on the left and crossed it in for star striker Martins, who could not get a clean shot and the ball ended up in Tomba’s possession.
Setting himself up brilliantly, he fired his shot to the left of goalkeeper Sandip Nandy, who got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out of the net.
I-League 2013-14
Team P W L D GF GA Pts
Bengaluru FC 19 11 4 4 34 20 37
Pune FC 18 8 4 6 24 17 30
Salgaocar FC 18 9 6 3 25 20 30
Sporting Clube de Goa 18 8 5 5 25 22 29
Shillong Lajong FC 19 6 5 8 25 29 26
Dempo SC 18 6 5 7 20 17 25
East Bengal 16 6 4 6 21 15 24
Rangdajied United FC 19 5 8 6 24 30 21
Mohun Bagan 20 4 7 9 18 20 21
Mumbai FC 19 3 5 11 21 24 20
United SC 19 4 7 8 19 27 20
Mohammedan Sporting 18 4 9 5 17 23 17
Churchill Brothers 17 3 8 6 15 24 15
Rangdajied made it 2-0 via a set-piece in the 35th minute. A free kick on the right saw Nandy fail to collect the ball and Kim tapped it in with a low shot.
That was the first of three quick goals as a defensive collapse by the Mariners saw Martins make it 3-0 three minutes later.
Lyngdoh was with the ball just outside the box in the centre, but did not take a strike. The ball was not cleared, however, and Kim and Martins went up the left unmarked. The Nigerian got there first and hammered the ball home.
It was not as though Mohun Bagan were being completely outplayed.
They were attacking up front, with Odafa posing a danger.
The lone forward partnered with Christopher Chizoba and got well away from the RUFC defenders for the third goal in the 41st minute.
It was then all a matter of getting past keeper Surjay Kumar Pariyar and Odafa easily guided the ball in.
The Kolkatan outfit came out fighting in the second half.
While the visitors were in a hurry, Rangdajied spent a lot of time in trying to slow the game down.
The two main highlights of the session were the mad scrambles in the Rangdajied goalmouth that were somehow rebuffed, causing more frustration for the visitors.
It was far from pretty, but the defending of the hosts was good enough to put Bagan off until the final whistle, earning the Blues a second victory over the ninth-placed team this season.
The Shillong team have moved ahead of Bagan thanks to a better head-to-head record.
Meanwhile, in the other game of the day, Sporting Clube de Goa were held to a 1-1 draw by Mumbai FC.
Speaking after the game, RUFC coach Hering Shangpliang said that this victory will give his boys a lot of confidence going into their next game, which will be away at East Bengal on March 23.