Mohun Bagan beats Churchill Brothers 2-1, as Akram Moghrabi's winner keeps The Mariners in the title-hunt.

Mohun Bagan continued their late resurgence beating relegation-threatened Churchill Brothers 2-1 to keep their title hopes alive on Saturday at Tilak Maidan, Goa.

Mohun Bagan went in with the regular 4-4-2 formation Akram and Dicka leading the line supported by Sheik Faiaz and Nikhil Kadam from the flanks.Watson and Yuta in charge of the midfield as Gurjinder Kumar started on the left wing and Kingshuk Debnath replaced Rana Gharami to pair with Eze Kingsley to guard the central channel.

Both teams had odd chances in the first but it was mostly barren as none of the teams could bring out the creativity in the attacking third to break the deadlock as the first half saw cagey approach from both teams.

The second half was deemed to be more exciting as Francis found himself with space in an advantageous position but failed to connect the shot properly to hit it straight to the keeper.

Mohun Bagan used the long ball strategy as Akram and Faiaz won two back to back headers in the attacking half to find Dicka who played a square pass to Nikhil Kadam, who finished it off with perfectly placed left-footer past diving keeper James Kothan to put Mohun Bagan ahead in the game on the 54th minute.

As Churchill desperately looked for an equalizer to escape their relegation threat, it took them 20 minutes after conceding to find the equalizer through Osagie Monday 74th minute.

The move started with Dawda Ceesay playing a delightful ball towards the left channel to Nicholas Fernandes who put in a low cross into the six-yard box and Osagie Monday slotted it in from close range to make it 1-1 on the 74'.

Mohun Bagan's next goal came off a comedy of errors as Akram Moghrabi failed to connect the header from Sheikh Faiz's cross from point-blank range from an angle it seemed impossible to miss as the ball rolled back into play.

Mohun Bagan kept the attack alive from the same move as Faiaz delivered another brilliant cross within few seconds but this time around Akram Moghrabi made amends for his mistake seconds earlier to bury the ball at the back of the net to make it 2-1 for Mohun Bagan on the 76th minute.

As the clock ticked by, Churchill failed to find an equalizer as Mohun Bagan completed a 2-1 win to climb the third position on the league table.Mohun Bagan will look to win their final match against Gokulam Kerala to have an outside chance to win the league should other reams falter.

Aizawl FC Marksmen shoots Arrows Down,Wins 3-0.

By Rajarshi Chakrabarty

Aizawl FC went into the match with the intention to win all three points as last of their remaining two I-League games at home and was successful to end their winless streak beating Arrows 3-0  at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Friday

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Indian Arrows Coach Luis Norton de Matos went in with a 4-3-2-1 as Edmund Lalrindika played like a ”False Nine" supported Jeakson Singh and Nongdamba Naorem on both sides. While Santosh Kashyap played a conventional 4-4-2 formation with Leonce Dodoz and Lalkhawpuimawia leading the line and Andrei Ionescu playing in the attacking midfielder role.

Not playing a proper striker did not help the young side as they could not build up any attack in the scoring zone as Edmund Lalrindika found himself alienated from the midfielders.Aizawl FC used the space between Arrows midfield and striking line to control the game from their own half as Alfred Jaryan, Lalthanga Khawlhring and Andrei Ionescu controlled the midfield and piled attack on the Arrows defense from the onset.

As a result, the goal came on just 7th minute for Aizawl FC as number 9 Lalkhawpuimawia danced around Sanjeev Stalin to lose the right back and delivered a low cross into the six-yard box which Prabhsukhan Gill failed to collect and parried into the path of an advancing Ionescu who scored with a simple tap-in to make it 1-0 for Aizawl FC.

It did not take Aizawl FC long to double their lead as Laldinliana threaded a brilliant through ball and Puimawaia made an incisive run between the two Arrows defenders to find himself on a one-on-one with the goalkeeper but his initial shot found the bar post but the number 9 made no mistake to capitalize on the rebound to give Aizawl 2-0 lead with just 16 minutes into the game.

It Aizawl FC who dominated the game with clever one-twos and the attacking trio of Dodoz-Puimawaia and Ionescu tormented the Arrows defense as the young colts were made to stretch and lose their shape at times.

Aizawl went into the halftime with a 2-0 lead and looked in complete control of the game.Back in the second half, the first chance fell to Leonce Dodoz as he found himself in a scoring position with the goalkeeper at his mercy but his powerful shot bounced off the cross-bar and went out. 

The young Arrows side found themselves in a rare opportunity on the 50th minute,  as defender Anwar Ali found himself in an unusual position with only the goalkeeper to beat but lack of finishing did him in, as Avilash Paul pulled off a save from close range.

On 53rd minute Dodoz and Ionescu played a brilliant "one-two" on the edge of Arrows box to split the defense but Ionescu hit it straight to Arrows keeper much to the disappointment of the home crowd.

Aizawl maintained their domination in the second half, as Dodoz kept on tormenting Arrows from the left and on 65th minute the Ivorian was unlucky not to score from his brilliant diagonal run down the left into the box and unleashed a left-footed shot which flashed across the face of the goal to miss the target.

Ionescu missed another easy chance from a promising position on 73rd minute as the Romanians left-footed effort sailed over the bar.

Deep into the game, on 87th minute Aizawl FC stamped their authority on the match with a third goal taking advantage of the Arrows playing high on the pitch as Dodoz evaded a tackle from Lalengmawia at the halfway line to release Puimawia for a brilliant through ball and the Mizo striker scored his second of the night to make it 3-0 for Aizawl FC.

Lalkhawpuimawia was adjudged the Hero of Match for his two goals(16' and 87') and an assist.

Aizawl is placed 6th on the league table with 21 points as they go into the final two I League games of the season against Minerva FC(away) and Gokulam Kerala FC(home) before beginning their AFC Cup 2018 campaign against Bengaluru FC on 7th March 2018.

Gokulam Kerala beats Minerva Punjab FC 1-0 to spice up I-League title race

The race to Hero I-League spiced up as Minerva FC had a major slip after they lost 1-0 to Gokulam Kerala FC who have made a name for themselves as Minerva FC succumbed to be Gokulam's third major victim after beating Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
First-half saw odd chances at both ends as both teams jostled to gain control over the game.The game was quite physical at times and none of the teams was successful to keep long possession or string passes together for any build up to the goal as odd chances were not capitalized.
The second half saw both teams coming out to look for the elusive goal as chances opened up at both ends. Arjun Jayaraj fired in the first warning as he tested Minerva keeper Kiran Limbu with a powerful volley on the 66th minute as it crashed on the woodwork.
It was Rashid's turn on the 71st minute as the Gokulam midfielder dispossessed William Opoku for a delightful chip from 30 yards out, as Minerva keeper Kiran caught off the line, only to see his Gokulam Kerala's effort finally paid off on 75th minute as Provat Lakra's left-footed cross inside the box found Henry Kissekka whose initial header crashed onto the horizontal bar but the striker was smart enough to react to the rebound with a fantastic overhead kick to give Kerala a 1-0 lead.
William Opoku had a golden chance to equalize on the 89th minute as he found space inside the box to strike a first-time volley but failed to hit the target as he sprayed his shot wide off the keeper.
There were a few nervy moments for Gokulam as Minerva goalkeeper came forward in the final minutes and his looping header missed the target narrowly in the 96th minute.Gokulam managed to hold onto the lead and pulled off an incredible victory over league leaders Minerva Punjab FC to throw unforeseen possibilities into the title race as East Bengal and NEROCA FC still stays in the hunt.

Bengaluru FC dishes out champion's stuff to beat Shillog Lajong 3-0 in opening day I league clash