BFC head coach Pep Munoz feels that if the team has a good result against Mumbai City, the team will be right up there in the title race.
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FC Goa closed the gap with top-placed Mohun Bagan Super Giant after a flawless 2-0 win against Chennaiyin FC in their Indian Super League match on Saturday. The Gaurs are placed second in the table with 33 points after this win, cutting the gap with the top-positioned Mohun Bagan Super Giant (37) to four points. The loss also extended Chennaiyin FC’s winless run to six games, having last tasted a victory in the ISL during their 1-0 win against Hyderabad FC on December 11.

FC Goa held total control over this game, keeping 58.6% of the possession and taking eight shots on target as opposed to none of Chennaiyin FC.

Iker Guarrotxena got FC Goa ahead in the game with his sharp awareness inside the six-yard box.

Following a corner, Boris Singh received the ball on the right flank. Boris curled in a cross that was mishandled by Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Mohammed Nawaz.

Brison Fernandes lapped upon the chance but his shot ricocheted off the woodwork, and Guarrotxena picked up the loose ball and hammered it into the high centre of the goal in the 11th minute.

Nawaz partly redeemed himself six minutes later, as Aakash Sangwan burst into the box following a fast break by the Gaurs and shot firmly from a narrow angle on the left side.

Nawaz was forced to make an outstretched dive to get his hand at the end of the shot to save his side from conceding another strike. Sangwan did get the better of Nawaz in the 26th minute though, this time, from an even more difficult angle.

The gameplay seemed straight out of the training ground of the Gaurs, as Guarrotxena enabled them to build pressure on the Chennaiyin FC defence.

Abruptly, he broke that passage of play by making a backward pass to Carl McHugh. Unmarked, McHugh played a lobbed ball over the Chennaiyin FC backline for Sangwan, who took a deft touch before castling the ball into the bottom left corner by beating Nawaz on the near post.

FC Goa stepped up the intensity following their second goal, embracing a more proactive outlook in dabbling with multiple ways to test the Chennaiyin FC defence. Guarrotxena operated right down the middle and encountered a chance to triple the lead in the 31st minute.

In a pocket of space with no Chennaiyin FC players around him, he unleashed a thunderous shot directed on target that had to be saved by Nawaz in the top centre of the goal.

While the Gaurs orchestrated multiple incisive attacking moves, Chennaiyin FC struggled to create meaningful chances. FC Goa operated seamlessly in tandem from back to front, with the defence building up attacks and the midfield propelling them to sustain that for reasonable periods of time.

The Marina Machans, however, had a chance to pull a goal back in the 69th minute. Connor Shields, the leading assist maker (8) in the league, sprinted down the right flank before hurling in a cross for Wilmar Jordan Gil at the centre of the FC Goa box.

Wilmar got into a complicated position in his attempt to get the ball down. He instead squared it up for Farukh Choudhary beside him. With ample space to target the net, Farukh ended up striking his shot way too high of the goal. PTI AH AM AH AM AM

East Bengal FC returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Kerala Blasters FC in an Indian Super League match on Friday. This was the Red and Gold brigade’s first victory in five games, having last won 1-0 against Jamshedpur FC on December 21. A brilliant first half strike from PV Vishnu saw the hosts take the lead at half-time, before Hijazi Maher extended the advantage in the second half. Danish Farooq brought the Kerala Blasters FC back into the game with a late goal but in the end, it was only a consolation. With this win, the Red and Golds have also snapped their three-game losing streak in the current campaign.

The visitors had the lion’s share of possession in the initial exchanges of the game whereas the Red and Golds waited for their opportunity to pounce on counter-attacks.

The Blasters were pretty one-dimensional with their reliance on Noah Sadaoui on the right flank and the hosts took advantage of this pattern.

The game’s first chance fell to Dimitrios Diamantakos in the 15th minute when Naorem Mahesh Singh recycled possession and initiated a counter-attack. He released Diamantakos in space but Sachin Suresh kept out the Greek forward’s effort on target.

Minutes later, Sachin was indecisive with a parry from Cleiton Silva’s direct freekick on goal. Richard Celis latched onto the stray ball but he didn’t have enough space to slot it home. With these attacks, the hosts were gradually gaining momentum.

Oscar Bruzon’s men were rewarded in the 20th minute when Cleiton found Vishnu with an exquisite long ball on the right flank.

The youngster zoomed past his marker before dinking the ball over Sachin, who came out of his lines. The ball trickled over the goal-line as Korou Singh failed to clear the danger.

After taking the lead, East Bengal FC were the better team as they created some good openings. They almost doubled the lead when Diamantakos squared the ball to Cleiton in the penalty area before the Brazilian forced Sachin to come up with a fantastic save.

The hosts almost had the second goal when Celis decided to pull the trigger from long range. However, his effort struck the post on its way out.

This was the first in nine games that East Bengal FC ended the first half with a lead in this competition. The last time they held a lead at the break was against NorthEast United FC in November.

Kerala Blasters FC looked like an improved side as they started the second half with great intent. Noah orchestrated most of their moves as they kept pushing for the equaliser.

In the 58th minute, Kwame Peprah was introduced to add more attacking impetus as Milos Drincic made way for him.

Noah almost found the equaliser for the visitors when he broke through the entire East Bengal FC backline.

However, Lalchungnunga blocked the Moroccan’s eventual effort. In the meantime, Lalthanmawia Renthlei walked into the field replacing Korou.

In the 72nd minute, the hosts secured the goal when Hijazi rose the highest from a corner delivered by Mahesh and headed it home. He was completely unmarked and made full use of the opportunity, scoring his second goal of the current campaign.

Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal LIVE Telecast, ISL 2024-25 LIVE Streaming© ISL

Mohun Bagan SG vs East Bengal FC Highlights, ISL 2024-25 Football© X/@mohunbagansg

Mohun Bagan Super Giant beat Kerala Blasters 3-2 to register their fifth consecutive home win and cement their top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) points table here on Saturday. Despite holding 56.5 percent of the possession, the Mariners required two late goals to secure all three points from this fixture. The Mariners now have 26 points from 11 matches with the help of eight victories and two draws to be at the top of table. Kerala Blasters FC opened the game on an assertive note, with their frontline duo of Noah Sadaoui and Jesus Jimenez teasing the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence within the first five minutes.

Whilst Noah tried to strike home from outside of the box in the second minute, Jimenez made an attempt at goal from inside the box with his left foot, which was saved by Vishal Kaith in the fourth minute.

That didn’t deter Kerala Blasters from discovering options upfront, as their entire midfield worked cohesively to knock doors at the Mariners’ backline. Pritam Kotal sprinted ahead with quick pace and curled in a cross for Danish Farooq inside the box, but the latter’s shot landed off target past the right post.

Subhasish Bose joined in the attacking moves for the hosts, teaming up with Liston Colaco in the 18th minute, who laid up an accurate pass for the defender on the left side of the 18-yard box. Bose had a good opportunity to score in his 100th ISL appearance for the Mariners, but his shot lacked the pace to find its way past Sachin Suresh.

The home side’s moment of reckoning came in the 33rd minute though, as Asish Rai unleashed a powerful shot from distance that was stopped by Sachin, but the rebound fell in Jamie Maclaren’s path, who comfortably slotted it into the bottom left corner to help them secure the first goal of the match.

Increasingly, Kerala Blasters were finding it difficult to construct well-coordinated attacking moves. Jimenez took matters in his own hands in the 51st minute, and Adrian Luna simultaneously helped him by pressing high on the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence, helping the visitors recover possession.

Jimenez didn’t take too much time on the ball, hammering it into the bottom left corner from the outside of the 18-yard box upon taking a quick, deft touch and equalising the scores.

Sadaoui sprung into action following this move, hoping to get another goal in the favour of the Kochi-based team by riding the momentum in their favour.

In the following 15-odd minutes, he hit the target multiple times, most notably in the 67th minute from outside of the box. Despite the distance, his shot was well directed into the bottom right corner, but kept at bay by Kaith.

Kerala Blasters were successful in their effort of breaching past the Mariners’ defence in the 77th minute. They pushed up numbers during a set piece and Milos Drincic was placed perfectly to drill the ball into the high centre of the goal in a crowded Mohun Bagan Super Giant box to get the visitors a late advantage.

That opened the floodgates for an onslaught from the Mariners, as Jason Cummings came off the bench in the 80th minute. His partnership with Dimitrios Petratos has been lethal upfront and Saturday was no different, with the latter squaring up a pass for Cummings deep inside the box that was netted into the bottom left corner by the striker to bring the scores back to level terms in the 86th minute.

The Mariners kept pushing forward, earning free-kicks and corners alike. In the added time of the second half, Kerala Blasters defence was unable to clear their lines after a corner and Alberto Rodriguez, placed outside the 18-yard area, trusted his instincts to launch a shot into the bottom left corner to bag their third goal of the night, and notch all three points for the home side.

East Bengal FC registered their third consecutive clean sheet as they blanked Chennaiyin FC 2-0 in an Indian Super League (ISL) match on Saturday. PV Vishnu (54th) and Jeakson Singh (84th) were on the scoresheet as East Bengal recorded their first victory away from home in the competition in this campaign. The loss meant that Chennaiyin FC are winless in their last four games of the ongoing season. Chennaiyin FC had the upper hand for most of the first half. They enjoyed the lion’s share of possession with Connor Shields playing a pivotal role in creating chances and stretching the East Bengal defence in wide areas.

Despite controlling play, the Marina Machans had nothing to show for as the visitors held their lines brilliantly and absorbed pressure. Although they failed to break the deadlock, Owen Coyle’s men quickly recycled possession after losing it. They also managed to isolate Dimitrios Diamantakos upfront, cutting him from any supplies from the midfield.

Shields and Daniel Chima Chukwu were at the end of a few openings but either the East Bengal backline or Prabhshukhan Singh Gill were in their way to the goal.

Chennaiyin FC’s best chance of the half came to Laldinpuia Pachuau when he leapt the highest from a Shields corner but his subsequent header lacked power and didn’t trouble Gill at all in goal.

While Chennaiyin FC failed to capitalise on their chances, they also made sure that they didn’t allow the visitors to create many openings in the first period.

Before this match, five out of eight meetings between these two teams were goalless at half-time and this one followed the same route.

The second half started with Chennaiyin FC continuing their dominance in possession. It was Farukh Chaudhury, who found himself in the mix of two chances but he wasn’t clinical enough to test Gill in goal.

In the 49th minute, Oscar Bruzon decided to replace Diamantakos with Cleiton Silva, providing more fluidity in attack for the Red and Gold Brigade.

In the 54th minute, the hosts were the ones to blink first as East Bengal broke the deadlock courtesy of a goal from Vishnu.

A brilliantly delivered dink ball from Naorem Mahesh Singh unleashed Saul Crespo in the penalty box before the Spaniard pulled the trigger. His initial shot was saved by Mohammed Nawaz but Vishnu reacted to the rebound before Laldinliana Renthlei and slotted it home.

In the 59th minute, Crespo was stretchered out of the ground after pulling his hamstring and was replaced by Jeakson Singh. Soon, Coyle also turned to his reinforcements by bringing in Wilmar Jordan Gil and Vincy Barretto to add more flair upfront.

The sustained pressure from the visitors paid off eventually when Jeakson doubled the lead in the 84th minute with a long-range stunner which nestled into the top left corner of the net.

With that goal, East Bengal FC secured their second win of the season whereas Chennaiyin FC remain winless at home in the ongoing season.

Sunil Chhetri came up with two late goals as Bengaluru FC edged past Mohammedan SC 2-1 in the Indian Super League here on Wednesday. The Blues now have registered a win against all three Kolkata clubs this season. It was Cesar Manzoki, who handed the hosts an early lead but Chhetri came on as a substitute and stuck twice to see the visitors return home with a famous win. Chhetri thus became the first player to score against all the 15 ISL teams and now also leads the league in scoring the most spot-kicks (20) in the competition’s history.

Mohammedan SC opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Manzoki rose highest to head the ball home from Kasimov’s beautiful corner.

The second half started with a golden opportunity for the hosts to double their lead. Manzoki controlled a long ball with aplomb, setting up play for Franca in the penalty box. However, the Brazilian’s effort was way off target.

In the 53rd minute, Gerard Zaragoza decided to bring on Chhetri to add more attacking impetus. The move allowed Jorge Pereyra Diaz to switch to a wider role with Chhetri taking the central position.

While the Blues dominated possession, they failed to create openings even with Chhetri on the field. Williams caused some trouble with his crosses but the Australian was not on the same wavelength as Diaz.

In the 70th minute, Chernyshov decided to freshen things up by bringing Alexis Gomez in place of Franca. The Argentine almost made an instant impact for the hosts when Remsanga released him on the left flank following a fast break.

Gomez composed himself and struck the ball low to the left but Gurpreet Singh Sandhu denied him with a fantastic save.

In the 82nd minute, Manzoki brought down Capo in the penalty box to reward the Blues with a perfect opportunity to equalize.

Chhetri stepped up and hammered the ball into the extreme left corner to bring Bengaluru FC back into the game.

Mohammedan SC almost had the perfect retaliation after conceding. Gomez won the possession and released Remsanga on the right, who found Manzoki in the box. The lanky forward lost his marker with his smart movement but his header struck the post on its way out.

In the end, despite all odds, Bengaluru FC eventually took the lead in the dying moments of the match when Chhetri stepped up from Lalremtluanga Fanai’s cross to head the ball home past Bhaskar in goal.

East Bengal put on a defensive masterclass despite playing more than an hour with only nine men to hold city rivals Mohammedan Sporting Club for a goalless draw in the ISL in Kolkata on Saturday. This also ended East Bengal’s nightmarish six-match losing streak of the season, opening their account in the 13-team table with one point from seven matches to remain at the bottom. Debutants Mohammedan Sporting with five points occupied a place off the bottom.

Fresh off making quarterfinals in the AFC Challenge League, East Bengal, who had struggled to in the ISL until now, showed a new-found confidence under their new head coach Oscar Bruzon.

India star defender Anwar Ali showed his true potential, not only as a defender but also as a leader of men.

He maintained the cohesion among the backline and kept the dangerous duo of Franca and Loni Manzoki at bay throughout.

The match saw a dramatic first half for East Bengal, who were reduced to nine players after two red cards in quick succession.

The drama unfolded in the 28th minute when Nandhakumar Sekar was shown a red card for violent conduct after swinging his arm at MSC’s Amarjit Kiyam Singh.

Just moments later, Mahesh was given a second yellow for showing dissent, leaving EBFC in disarray.

Despite the setbacks, the Bruzon-coached remained compact defensively and managed to keep Mohammedan at bay.

Mohammedan Sporting had the lion’s share of possession throughout the match, creating numerous chances, but was unable to break down East Bengal’s citadel.

Alexis Gomez and Franca were particularly dangerous, creating opportunities on the left, but each cross was either cleared away or denied by EB goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, who produced several key saves.

The second half saw Mohammedan continue their dominance, but East Bengal’s defensive line held firm.

Zodingliana Ralte had a chance to open the scoring in the 68th minute but blasted his volley over the bar.

Despite the constant wave of attack from MSC, East Bengal’s defence stood resolute with crucial blocks and tackles from Hijazi Maher, Mohammed Rakip, and Lalchungnunga.

In the dying moments of the game, MSC earned a freekick in a dangerous position, but the delivery was cleared by EB’s defenders.