Mohun Bagan crash out of Federation Cup

 

A distressing performance by the 13 time champions, Macdowell’s Mohun Bagan against a 10 men Air India made sure that they were bidding adieu to their hopes of clinching the 34th edition of the Federation Cup.

In the 12th minute of the match referee Vishnu Chauhan sent Air India defender John Dias off the field for showing dissent.  But the 10 men of Air India showed a great deal of character and resilience by nailing their first goal on the 28th minute of the match, against a full strength Macdowell’s Mohun Bagan.

Arguably a stroke of luck was involved in the first goal of Air India, as Eliah Junior’s shot took a  atrocious deflection off the Bagan defender Anyichie Elkezo and was in the back of the net, leaving goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya helpless. Mohun Bagan’s all out attack for the much wanted equaliser went in vain as the Air India defenders sat back as cleared the ball out of the danger zone.

Bagan kept pouring men forward which created a lapse in the defense line. Henry Ezeh latched onto a long clearance by the Bagan defender and made a staggering 40 yard run to score the decisive goal in the 86th minute and made it 2-0, which ended the Mariner’s journey in the Fed Cup.

Air India Goalkeeper Sukhwinder Singh also needs a special mention for an exceptional performance under the bar as he denied shots of Okolie Odafa, Jewel Raja and CS Sabeeth on the 30th, 33rd and 72nd minute respectively.

Bagan could tally only 1 point from their 2 matches and languished at the bottom of the Group-B table. Mohammedan and Air India shared 3 points each. While Churchill brothers topped the table with 4 points after thrashing Mohammedan Sporting 5-1.