East Bengal draws 2-2 with Lajong FC, stays pinned at third on the league table.

The crucial away game of East Bengal against Lajong on Monday was anticipated to be a defining encounter in the Kolkata side's title chase as they desperately needed to win the game to keep their title destiny in their own hands before the final encounter against NEROCA FC.
The ebb and tide of the Hero I League unfolded yet another drama as East Bengal salvaged a 2-2 draw against Lajong on Monday to relinquish the advantage they had at the start of the game as a doubleheader from Dudu Omagbemi on 20' and 87' was canceled out by Lajong's Aiban on 49' and Samuela on 69' as both sides settled for a 2-2 draw.

The script for the dramatic encounter was set from the start as East Bengal needed to secure 6 points before the game to win the league without depending on the results of other teams.
Both teams had a positive start to the game as free-flowing football descended at the JLN Stadium under lights as both went in for the early goal to take the control of the game.The battle soon became evident as East Bengal's midfield engine of Al Amna, Katsumi, Lobo, and Brendan took the compact defensive formation of Lajong led by their talismanic captain Samuel.
East Bengal opted for a 4-4-1-1 as Kromah tucked in behind Dudu Omagbemi as to take the attacking duties along with Kevin Lobo and Mahmoud Al Amna to construct attacking build up from the center of the park.
The game started at a fast tempo and 20-minutes down the clock East Bengal opened the scoring as Dudu Omagbemi sneaked in behind the defenders to head in from a flawless cross down the left channel from Chullova to put East Bengal ahead in the game.
Lajong had their moments in the game as Samuela's well-connected shot barely managed to glaze the woodwork before going out as East Bengal went into the break with a slender 1-0 lead.
Back in the second half, the home side started to take the attack to the East Bengals half as Odafin's shot from Koffi's assist landed wide off the target.
Lajong's illusive equalizer finally came on 49th minute from a freekick as Saihou Jagne was brought down in the attacking third and Samuela delivered a teasing cross into the box and it took faintest of headed deflection from Aiban to land at the back of the net as Lajong drew level 1-1 on the 49th minute.
As East Bengal kept the pressure on Lajong, chances started to come in a flurry as Brandon Vanlalremdika had two decisive attempts on goal saved by  Nidhin Lal's acrobatic attempts to keep East Bengal at bay.
Lajong on the other end looked to catch East Bengal off-guard on the break as Koffi managed to follow a long ball into the box and managed to hold off three East Bengal defenders around him.
Koffi managed to play the ball to Samuel but young Left-back Mahtab Singh's unnecessary tackle on Samuela resulted in referee pointing to the spot for a penalty. Samuel himself stepped up to the spot to hammer it past Ubaid to give Lajong the lead on the 69th minute.
As Lajong looked to ease away with all three points, East Bengal struck back in the 87th minute through Dudu Omagbemi's second header of the game as the striker gleefully headed in from Kromah's flick to put East Bengal at 2-2.
As East Bengal pushed men forward in search of the winner, Lajong caught East Bengal on the counter as Samuel managed to break free in the 95th minute and laid it off to Abdoulaye Koffi but the Ivorian failed to put the game to bed as the weak left footer went wide.
As the clock ticked by, both teams had to settle for a 2-2 draw which is a huge blow to East Bengal's title campaign whose fate lies entangled in a myriad of permutations and combinations added with the results from other teams. 
The first four teams in the league table are separated by just 2 points going into the final game of the I League on 8th March 2018 as all four contenders would contest on the final match day to seal the fate of the I-League which is expected to go all the way down the wire.

East Bengal Steamrolls Chennai City FC 7-1, Claims Second Spot On The league Table.

The roller coaster season in the Hero I-League took yet another dramatic turn as East Bengal pummelled Chennai City FC 7-1 to claim the second position in the League table surpassing Minerva Punjab FC.
Dudu Omagbemi was the star of the goal-fest with four goals on 32', 49', 56' and 61' while Al-Amna scored the opening goal on the 20', debutant Gabriel scored the final goal for East Bengal on the 84th minute.
 Dharamraj Ravannan scored an own-goal earlier as Chennai City FC managed to pull one back goal through Mashoor Thangalakath in the 59th minute as the Chennai boys were humbled at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
East Bengal handed Kromah a place in the starting eleven alongside Al-Amnah, Kevin Lobo, and Katsumi Yusa.East Bengal midfielders took control of the game from the start as Amnah and Kromah orchestrated the attacks building up to the Chennai City box as East Bengal pressed Chennai deep into their half.
The opening goal came in the 20th minute as Lalram Chullova released a long ball from deep into the East Bengal half to Al-Amna who fended off a challenge from Veniamin Shumeiko to find space in the box but his shot was saved by Chennai keeper Kabir twice but Mahmoud Al Amnah made no mistake in his third attempt with his left-footed effort to give East Bengal 1-0 lead.
The second goal came on 23rd minute as Chullova made a darting run from the left wing to deliver a low cross and Dudu was lurking in the six-yard box as Dharmaraj Ravanan tried to steer the ball away but ended up putting it into his own goal as Chennai slumped to a 2-0 deficit within the half-an-hour mark.
As East Bengal kept the momentum going forward they were rewarded by the third goal in the 32nd minute as Mahtab Singh and Katsumi exchanged couple of passes pushing forward and right back Mahtab Singh released another long ball into the box and Chennai City center-back Veniamin Shumeiko made an error of judgement expecting keeper to collect the long ball but Dudu Omagbemi showed his poaching skills as he squeezed between the defender and goalkeeper to collect the loose ball rounded off the keeper and slotted in a calm finish to put the game beyond Chennai FC with a 3-0 lead.
Trailing by three goals at the break, in the second half just four minutes into the game Dudu Omagbemi scored his second goal on the 49th minute with a thunderous shot from inside the box to rattle the top-corner of the net after picking up from a ball from Al-Amna who wriggled his way into the box  to score East Bengal's fourth goal of the afternoon.
Chennai City FC looked hapless, as the match was on a one-way traffic and it wasn't long before in the 56th minute, Dudu Omagbemi scored his hattrick from a brilliant through ball from Ansumanah Kromah as he found space between Ravanan and Edwin Vanspaul and tucked it off with a sublime finish to the right of the keeper to make it 5-0 close to the hour mark.
Chennai City FC managed to pull one back as Mashoor Thangalakath scored from a volley inside the box within a minute of coming on as a substitute as the game still tilted heavily in the favor of East Bengal at 5-1 by the hour mark.
East Bengal was in no mood to relent the pressure as they attacked in number from the flanks and down the center as Chennai FC found it difficult to thwart the never-ending wave of attack.Dudu Omagbemi was ruling the roost on the field as he picked up his fourth goal on the 61st minute from  Katsumi Yusa corner as Chennai defenders failed to clear the ball and Dudu took advantage of the indecision to direct the ball into the back of the net to give East Bengal a massive 6-1 lead.
Khalid Jamil sensing the blood of the opposition wasn't happy to sit back and went for the kill as he introduced attacking midfielder Gabriel Fernandes and Jobby Justin to add more venom to the attack and pick up on the goal difference should that be a factor in the closing stages of the league.
The positive move from the Khalid Jamil paid-off as debutant Gabriel Fernandes repaid the Coach's faith by scoring his first and East Bengal's seventh goal on the 84th minute with a right-footed curler just outside the box landing at the top right corner leaving the Chennai keeper Kabir with no chance to stop it.
As the referee blew his whistle to end the Chennai City FC's ordeal, East Bengal has now placed themselves as serious contenders for the title as they breathe on the shoulders of NEROCA FC and pipped MINERVA FC by the virtue of better "head-to-head" record with 29 points from 16 games.
As the season draws to it's close the three horse race between Eat Bengal, Minerva FC, and NEROCA FC is expected to go down the wire for a nervous finish but Minerva FC holds the advantage of having three remaining games including two at home as East Bengal will have to make the tricky trip of Shillong against Lajong followed by the final game against contender NEROCA FC at home on 8th March 2018 at 3 P.M.

Soosairaj's brace for Chennai City FC sinks Churchill Brothers

By Rajarshi Chakrabarty

Chennai FC rode on a brace from Captain Michael Soosairaj to beat Churchill Brothers 3-1 at the JL Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore on Saturday (February 17, 2018).

Serbian forward Aleksandar Rakic opened the scoring for Chennai FC as the striker collected the ball from Jesuraj's through ball to launch a powerful shot to rattle the net and giving Chennai a 1-0 lead.

Michale Soosairaj scored just three minutes later as the strikers long shot on goal bounced off the uneven surface and turned away from the keeper and landed at the back of the net leaving James Kithan perplexed as Chennai FC went 2-0 up within half an hour mark.

Post-halftime break, Soosairaj scored his second goal in 54th minute as he followed a strong low-shot by Jesuraj but Churchill keeper James Kithan failed to stop it completely and Soosairaj found himself in perfect position to tuck the rebound past the keeper to make it 3-0.

Churchill could not open the goal-mouth throughout the 90 minutes due to lack of quality upfront as Koffi Mechac was substituted in the first half and had to rely on Britto and Uttam Rai supported by Dawda Ceesay upfront. Churchill tried to use the flanks using Uttam Rai and Nicholas Fernandes to provide width from both sides while Cessay was playing behind Britto as a playmaker, but lack of quality in the final ball let Churchill down to as they failed to ruffle the Chennai backline as Veniamin Shumeiko and Donghyeon Kim showed good sense of positioning to eliminate any threat from the Churchill attacking line.

Churchill brothers managed a consolation goal in the 93rd minute as Monday Osagie capitalized from a scrappy defending in the box as Kim Dong-Hyeon failed to clear the ball. But it was too little too late as Chennai FC cruized to a convincing 3-1win in front of their home fans.Chennai FC is now placed at 7th spot with 16 points as they gain some breathing space out of the relegation chamber.

East Bengal falters in their title chase,loses 2-1 to Gokulam Kerala FC

By Rajarshi Chakrabarty

East Bengal went into the match having the momentum of beating Minerva Punjab FC in the crucial tie against Gokulam Kerala FC to stay in the hunt for I-League championship, desperately looking for 3 points. But a stellar show from Gokulam Kerala FC humbled East Bengal 2-1 at the EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode on Saturday.

Khalid Jamil strangely opted for a lone striker in the form of Dudu Omagbemi who has lost his pace and sheen with age and was found wanting at times as Gokulam FC midfielders weren't shy at putting strong tackles in their half.

Goukulam Coach Bino George's tactical formation in the midfield successfully cut-off playmaker Al-Amna from feeding the forward line and the link up play between the midfield trio of Amna, Lobo and Katsumi was successfully thwarted.

Both teams had some decent chances in the first half but failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunities but the stalemate was finally broken when Emmanuel Chigozie brought down Kevin Lobo into the box during the injury time of first half and the referee straight away pointed to the spot.

Japanese midfielder made no mistake from the spot kick to give East Bengal crucial one-goal lead on the brink of halftime.

Back in the second half, Gokulam FC maintained the major share of possession as they took control over the match from the beginning. Henry.Kivi, Irshad and Jayaraj were completely in control of the game as they made the East Bengal defence stretch from all sides.The pressure on the East Bengal defence finally paid off as Kivi Zhimonu scored the equalizer in the 51st minute for the home side with a powerful shot after Henry laid it off to Kivi.

Henry did not enjoy the rub of the green himself and was denied by the woodwork couple of times as he could have easily scored back to back goals against the two Kolkata giants, coming fresh from scoring a brilliant goal against Mohun Bagan last week.

First, his long-range screamer on the 76th minute and then followed by a thumping header on the 86th minute were both denied by the woodwork leaving the striker in dismay.

As the match seemed to head for a draw some intelligent football by Gokulam FC secured the crucial winning goal for the Kerala side in the 87th minute.Henry was at the heart of the action again as the quick attack in the East Bengal box caught the East Bengal defenders out of shape and Henry played it onto Arjun Jayaraj who delivered a low cross but Salam Ranjan Singh failed to deal with cross and turned it into his own net to score a dreaded own-goal to give Gokulam FC a 2-1 lead.

In the final minutes of the game, both teams were involved in some heated exchanges and strong tackles as both teams were reduced to 10-men as Irshad was red carded on 91st minute and Arnab Mondal earned his second yellow card on the 96th minute with a cynical tackle on Arjun Jayaraj.

Gokulam Kerala FC secured a 2-1 win as they continue their late resurgence to hold 8th position in the league with 16 points while Khalid Jamil's East Bengal would have a monumental task ahead as they let their momentum slip having secured 26 points from 15 games.

Anarjit Kiyam scores late penaty,Arrows snatch 2-2 draw against Aizawl FC

Luis Norton de Matos coached AIFF developmental side Indian Arrows seems to have finally evolved into a mature side and turned from a side conceding late goals to a side scoring late goals.The indomitable spirit of the young boys (U-19 side) was evident in their game against Aizawl as they robbed Aizawl of 2 points with a late penalty on the 89th minute to salvage a 2-2 draw at the Tilak Maidan, Goa on Friday.
Arrows have already made themselves known for their incessant intensity and pace they play throughout the game and it was evident on Friday against Aizawl as the young colts came from a goal down twice to steal 1 point.
Aizawl opened the scoring on the 40th minute as Masih Saigani picked up a loose ball from Andrei Ionescu to slot it past Arrows keeper Prabhsukhan Gill to make it 1-0, as Aizawl went into the break with a one-goal lead.
Back in the second half, it took Arrows just 3 minutes into the second half to make it 1-1 through an Edmund Lalrindika strike on the 48th minute.Edmund found himself at the end of a brilliant cross from Ashish Rai down the right flank and his intelligent cutback created space away from two defenders and the Mizo lad finished it off with brilliant curler past Avilash Paul to even the scores.
As the match proceeded towards an hour mark, Aizawl managed to get a lead into the game in the 54th minute as Dodoz managed to meet a low cross from Zohmingmawia to make it 2-1.
Aizawl FC  faced an incessant wave of attack as Arrows continued their high paced game using the flanks and quick one-two looking for an equalizer.Luis Norton de Matos went all out looking for an equalizer as he introduced Suresh Singh Wangjam and Rahim Ali to add more teeth to the Arrows attack.
Deep into the second half Arrows were finally rewarded as a tired Lalrosanga brought down Rahul Balan inside the box on the 87th minute and the referee pointed to the spot without any second thought.
C.Lalrosanga was sent off following his second yellow card as Aizawl FC were reduced ten men going into the final minutes of the game.
Amarjit Kiyam made no mistake from the spot to steal a last-gasp equalizer on the 89th minute to make it 2-2 for the Arrows. With the points shared Indian Arrows are now placed on 8th spot with 15 points while defending champions Aizawl FC continues their mid-table battle under new Coach, Santosh Kashyap placed at 6th spot with 18 points as they face Shillong Lajong in the north-eastern derby on 19th February 2018 at the JLN Stadium, Shillong.

Aizawl FC wins the first leg of the North East Derby today by 2-1.

#HeroILeague Gameweek 2 starts tomorrow. Mohun Bagan AC host Salgaocar Football Club tomorrow. @dsk shivajians are going to start their I-League campaign against Sporting Clube de Goa and Mumbai Football Club host mighty Kingfisher East Bengal FC. The top story of the week is Aizawl FC host Bengaluru FC tomorrow at 01:00 PM.