Early strikes power Salgaocar

Leaders Salgaocar recorded a thrilling 3-2 win over East Bengal in a round eight clash of the I-League in Kalyani on Friday to go three points clear at the top of the standings.

Goals from Karma Tsewang, Francis Fernandes and Clifton Dias saw Salgaocar race to a 3-0 lead but East Bengal threatened to stage a comeback as James Moga and Semilen Doungel got on the scoresheet.

Salgaocar, however, held on to get their fifth win of the season and now have 16 points from seven outings.

Having beaten United SC 2-0 at the same venue in round seven, Salgaocar were confident of another positive away result and they went in front after just eight minutes when Karma scored past East Bengal custodian Abhijit Mondal after Naoba Singh had cleared Darryl Duffy’s initial effort.

Even before the home team could recover from the early setback, India international Francis made it 2-0 just two minutes later. The midfielder chipped the ball over an onrushing Abhijit after a brilliant solo run as the visitors doubled their advantage.

East Bengal desperately needed a goal to come back into the contest and they did create some openings but Salgaocar custodian Karanjit Singh was in fine form. The India international notably made a brilliant double save to deny Edeh Chidi and Lalrindika Ralte in quick succession.

East Bengal dominated possession at the start of the second half but were wasteful with their final ball while Salgaocar also defended solidly.

Drab draw

Mohun Bagan and Dempo played out a goalless draw to split points at Mapusa.
The stalemate took Bagan to nine points from seven matches, while Dempo, who were looking to move up, collected seven points from seven matches.

Bengaluru eyeing win

Having suffered their first defeat following a promising beginning to their campaign, debutants Bengaluru FC will be gunning to get back to the top of table when they travel to Mumbai FC for their second successive away fixture.

Flying high following four wins and a draw from their opening five matches at home, Bengaluru FC were brought back to earth when East Bengal handed them a 2-0 defeat last Saturday.

However, the Ashley Westwood-coached side couldn’t have asked for a better side than Mumbai FC to pick their pieces up. Mumbai are languishing third from bottom with just points while BFC are lying third on 13 points.
Agencies