By Abhishek Roy
Ludhiana : JCT and East Bengal began their Federation Cup campaign on a winning note with identical 3-1 scores in their respective matches on the opening day of the tournament here Tuesday.
In the opening match, hosts JCT defeated Goa’s Vasco 3-1, while in the second match East Bengal defeated Kolkata rivals Mohammedan Sporting at the sparsely filled Guru Nanak Stadium.
The main attraction of the day was the Kolkata derby and it lived up to expectations. A brace from East Bengal’s Brazilian Edmilson Marques (52nd, 67th minute) and a clean header from Asim Biswas (22nd) saw the red and gold brigade sailing into the quarterfinal stage of this 16-team knockout tournament.
Kalia Kulothungan, who was with East Bengal two seasons ago, pulled one back for Mohammedan Sporting to reduce the margin at the fag end of the first half.
East Bengal, in their search to end a title drought, played an attacking game, and both flanks – Syed Rahim Nabi on the right and Alvito D’Cunha on the left – kept feeding forwards Asim Biswas and Marques. The last time East Bengal won this prestigious title was in 1996.
In the 22nd minute, Nabi curled in a beautiful cross from the left and a measured header from Biswas saw East Bengal taking the lead.
After taking the lead, East Bengal stepped up their attack but Mohammedan Sporting were equally good and they fought tooth and nail.
Kulothungan came close to scoring in the 36th minute after his immaculate swerving shot from the right was brilliantly thwarted by East Bengal goalie Subrato Paul. The goalkeeper was instrumental in India’s joyous Nehru Cup campaign and carried on the fine form against the city rivals.
In the very next minute, East Bengal came close to double the lead when Brazilian Marques was again on target but by Mohammedan Sporting custodian Nasibul Haque parried away.
Sporting equalised in the dying minutes of the first half when Kulothungan slotted it in off a rebound. Paul Nwachukwa made a solo run into East Bengal box and his drive was fisted away by Paul and Kulothungan latched on the rebound and shot past Haque.
Both teams were locked at 1-1 till the breather. But after the change of sides, it was a different East Bengal side and they gave no chance to their rivals by scoring two goals and hammered the nails in Mohammedan Sporting’s coffin.
Both the goals came from Marques, which left the Mohammedan Sporting players look like a hapless lot. The deadlock was broken in the 52nd minute when Alvito gave a pass to Biswas on the left flank and the latter gave a clinical pass to the Brazilian, whose diving header found the net.
Fifteen minutes later, Marques completed his brace after he was again set-up by Alvito. A through pass from Alvito found the Brazilian in the box, who chipped in past the goalie to seal the fate in East Bengal’s favour.
East Bengal will now face hosts JCT in first quarterfinal. JCT registered a 3-1 win over a 10-man Vasco.
Brazilians Eduardo Escobar and Marcos Pereira were on target and an own-goal from Robert Fernandes saw the hosts qualifying for the quarterfinal stage. Matthew Odje scored the consolation goal for the Goan team.
Vasco were reduced to 10 men in the 85th minute after Queterio Pango kicked Baldeep Singh (sr).
JCT, playing in their home ground, were always on the attacking mode right from the start and the first goal came as early as in the fifth minute from a fine finish by Escobar. The Brazilian unleashed his powerful left footer past goalie Juze Siddi, from a free-kick.
After taking the lead, JCT stepped up the flurry of attacks and Escobar again came close to net his second goal in the 19th minute but his swerving free-kick was parried away by Siddhi.
JCT playing upfront with Escobar and Chettri kept on making regular inroads and the second goal came in the dying minutes of the half time. For Escobar his second goal remained elusive but the Brazilian was impressive all through out the regulation time and set-up the second goal for Pereira.
Escobar made a solo run from the left wing and just from the edge of the back-line gave a clinical square pass to an unmarked Pereira in the box, who just flicked the ball into the net to double the lead.
Chettri, who was the highest Indian scorer in the recently concluded Nehru Cup, was rusty but in the 33rd minutes he was unlucky to miss one after his right footer from the edge kissed the left bar on its way out. Chettri was replaced in the 67th minute by Parvin Kumar, who displayed flashes of brilliance but was far away from netting.
The Goans were lucky enough to pull one back in the 68th minute, thanks to a defensive lapse from JCT defenders. A neat pass from Joy Ferrao found an unmarked Odje on the edge of the box. Odge didn’t waste time and chipped it over JCT goalie Karajit Singh to reduce the margin.
The Vasco defenders were left at sea and in the 75th minute the lack of co-ordination between them was exposed when Robert Fernandes, in an attempt to clear the ball off a goalmouth melee, shot into his own net. Escobar aimed for the near post from the right side of the box but it was thwarted by Siddhi, who in turn fumbled and failed to grab on to it and Fernandes in his attempt to clear slotted it into his net.
TEAMS:
East Bengal: Subrato Paul (goalkeeper), Saumik Dey, M.Suresh, Majek Bolaji, Surkumar Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Jayanta Sen, Alvito D’Cunha, Asim Biswas, Edmilson Marques
Mohammedan Sporting: Nasibul Haque (goalkeeper), Adewayo Adewusi, Jothi Kumar, Shameel, Ayeni Bidemi, Dipak Singh, Sheikh Azim, Rajib Ahmed, Basudeb Mondal, Kalia Kulothungan, Paul Nwachukwa
Referee: S. Suresh (Tamil Nadu)