By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : Defending champions Mohun Bagan sailed into the semi-finals of the 29th Federation Cup football tournament with a convincing 3-1 win over Viva Kerala in a quarterfinal tie here Sunday.
Goals by Brazilian Jose Ramires Barreto (15th), Ishfaq Ahmed (39th) and P.C. Lalawmpuia (56th) kept the Kolkata giants in the hunt for defending their title. Sajesh. P struck from a free kick for the Kerala outfit to reduce the margin.
The Kolkata giants didn’t feel the absence of Bhaichung Bhutia, who missed the match due to fever, as Ahmed, Lalawmpuia and Barreto worked tirelessly in both the midfield and the attack.
As many as eight Mohun Bagan players were down with fever or stomach upset but despite all odds they booked a semi-final berth.
Viva, formed just three years back, put up a spirited show against the defending champions and created some good moves but lack of co-ordination and experience among the players knocked them out of the tournament.
Mohun Bagan looked a bit disorganised in the midfield as compared to Viva and the Kolkata team must improve their show in the semis, if they want to retain their title.
Barreto netted in the opening goal in the 15th minute from a goalmouth melee. A cross from Dharamjit Singh was headed down in front of the goalline by Peter Odafea, and in a scamper Barreto took advantage of the goalmouth melee and guided the ball into the net.
Ahmed, who came in as a substitute for Dharamjit in the 35th minute was lurking in Viva’s defence, and pounced on a long ball from the centre half by Shanmugham Venkatesh. Ahmed, muscling his way past two defenders, chipped over the goalie to double the lead in the 39th minute.
Despite being down by two goals, Viva fought with their heart out and Sajesh and Javed Ok kept on making regular inroads but could not get the better of the Mohun Bagan defenders.
The Kerala team had few shots on the goal and Satish Kumar was found guilty squandering two clear chances. A through pass from Bimal Baruah found an unguarded Satish, who made a solo run into the box and only had goalkeeper Sangram Muhkerjee to beat, but instead chipped it over the net.
After the change of sides, Satish had a similar chance when he again caught Mukherjee by surprise and had an open net but shot it wide. Their only goal came in the 51st minute when a swerving free kick by Sajesh completely foxed Mukherjee, who missed the flight of the ball.
Five minutes later, Lalawmpuia scored the third goal from a back-flick by Barreto. L. James Singh’s cross from the right flank was flicked back by the Brazilian striker and Lalawmpuia just guided it into the net.
TEAMS:
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee (goalkeeper), Habibur Rehman Mondal (Suman Dutta, 46), Anit Ghosh, Peter Odafe, Rauf Khan (Sanjeev Maria, 70), L. James Singh, Mohammed Gafari, Shanmugham Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh (Ishfaq Ahmed, 35), Jose Ramires Barreto, P.C. Lalawmpuia
Viva Kerela: Puroshothaman (goalkeeper), Othallo Tabia, Irungabam Singh, Satish Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Parveen Rawat (Javed Ok, 46), S. James Singh, Bimal Baruah (Shineraj 80), Santa Singh, Lalu K.V
Referee: Francisco Fernandes (Goa)