I-League: Mohun Bagan hold Churchill Brothers in Goa

Mohun Bagan hold Churchill Brothers

Churchill Brothers came up with a better performance than the last match against Salgocar which they lost by a solitary goal but had to settle for a nil-nil draw against Mohun Bagan. The jam-packed Duler Stadium witnessed exciting football but both the teams failed to score.

First half began on an easy note with both teams playing in the midfield and not creating enough opening in the final third. It was the Churchill Brothers stopper Adosope Hammed who had the first opportunity when he rose high but headed just wide of the Mohun Bagan goal in the 11th minute.

Then again Hugo Machado followed it up with a long ranger in the 13th minute which went just wide. Mohun Bagan players were marking Hugo closely and they got physical to stop the Portuguese midfielder. Adil Khan of Mohun Bagan then replied with a header which went just over the bar in the 15th minute.

Lenny Rodrigues, who was controlling the Churchill Brothers midfield well, then had a crack at the goal in the 31st minute, but his shot went just wide.

So at half time both teams were even at 0-0.

In the second half, Churchill Brothers started better of the two teams and Hugo Machado probably had the attempt of the match when his curled shot was just tipped over the bar by the Mohun Bagan goalkeeper, Sandip Nandy. Churchill continued to play well in the second half with Mohun Bagan making some occasional forays and one such move was foiled by Arindam Bhattacharya in the 70th min, when he made a brilliant save to deny Mohun Bagan the lead in one on one situation. Katsumi Yusa for Mohun Bagan was impressive with most of their attack starting with him.

So the final score read Churchill Brothers 0-0 Mohun Bagan but the match was exciting though it ended in a stalemate.