I-League 2017: Churchill Brothers vs East Bengal, 5 Talking Points
League leaders East Bengal travelled to Goa to face off against the Red Machines on Monday. East Bengal had amassed 17 points from 8 games and were top of the table before the tie, Churchill Brothers were yet to open their account from 5games and were rock bottom in the league standings.
East Bengal star striker Wills Plaza still wasn’t fully fit as he found himself on the substitute bench, whereas Churchill’s new signing Mechac Koffi started the game.
Despite the disparity though, Churchill Brothers managed to get their first point of the season, as new signing Koffi's second-half goal cancelled out Joby Justin's first-half strike.
On that note, let's take a look at how the players performed in the game.
Churchill play three of their panic-buys a day after singing them
Only a day before, Churchill confirmed the signing of seven new faces which included three Indians and four foreigners. While three of the four foreigners are yet to arrive in India, Churchill fielded three of the recently acquired players.
Mechac Koffi, the star striker for Churchill was fielded even though he arrived in Goa just three days ago and clearly looked unfit. Wayne Vaz and Jovel Martins both of whom were acquired from ISL teams FC Pune City and FC Goa respectively were also fielded.
With the Panic buys being fielded it is evident that Churchill were very eager to garner their first points of the I-League. They did have an effect as Koffi scored a screamer to level the scores and the likes of Vaz and Martins did a great job to keep the likes of Katsumi and Danmawia quiet.