KOLKATA, JAN 30
Chirag United registered a comprehensive 4-2 win against ONGC at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata here today. Joshimar Da Silva Martins, Elijah Junior, Denson Devadas, and Lalkamal Bhowmick scored for Chirag United, while coming as a replacement Badmus Babatunde pumped in two goals for the away team.
Chirag looked the better side throughout with the return of Junior pairing up with Josimar Da Silva Martins upfront. The Junior-Joshimar combination caused panic in ONGC’s defence time and again. The first chance was created by Elijah Junior but Joshimar Martins hit straight at goalkeeper, Rajat Ghosh Dastidar.
Kamal Thapa was booked after he was caught handling the ball with Junior initiating attack. On the resultant free-kick, Lalkamal Bhowmick however hit the wall.
ONGC made their first positive movement in the 42nd minute. Following a brilliant snatching by Bikash Jairu, he himself made a good run, released the ball for N D Opara whose shot deflected out for a corner. From the corner, the ball got cleared by Chirag’s defence and getting the lose ball, Denson Devadas passed it towards Junior whose brilliant flick found Joshimar in the open.
The latter did not make any mistake this time as he pushed the ball inside goal past onrushing goalkeeper. Just at the stroke of half time, from Jerry Zirsanga’s cross, Junior hit straight at Rajat Ghosh Dastidar.
Junior was again guilty of missing another chance a minute after resumption in the second half. Kamal Thapa’s head towards his own goalkeeper was intercepted nicely by Joshimar but from his low cross, Junior’s shot hit a ONGC defender.
Junior and Joshimar missed one more chance each before Junior made the scoreline 2-0 in the 55th minute. This time it was Jerry Zirsanga who made a down-the-middle run, passed the ball to Gouranga Biswas in the left side, who sent a back pass towards unmarked Elijah Junior. This time Junior did not make a mistake and placed the ball to the back of the net.
Just before the second goal, ONGC had brought in Babatunde who scored in the 58th minute. He got the ball in the right side of the box, dribbled past three players before unleashing a left footed shot that left Chirag’s goalkeeper Abhijit Mandal stranded.
The 5000 odd spectators present in the ground witnessed a flurry of goals as Denson made the scoreline 3-1 in favour of Chirag within two minutes. Gouranga Biswas’ cross was nicely headed by Denson Devadas to put the ball inside the goal. Rajat Ghosh Dastidar can be partly blamed for conceding this goal.
Lalkamal Bhowmick scored the best goal of the match in the 81st minute. He made a run from the center, got past three players and his shot bulged the net. Soon after the goal, Chirag coach Subrata Bhattacharya brought in defender Justin Stephen in place of Elijah Junior.
In the match held at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, Pune FC thrashed JCT 4-0.
For winners, M Keita scored in the 50th, 65th and 78th minutes while A Hassan added his name to the scorer’s list in the 63rd minute.
Regarding this substitution, after the match, he said, “Actually, I had asked Denson Devadas to mark Babatunde and he was doing his job well, but this meant Denson Devadas was not able to attack much. So I relieved him of this duty and brought Justin Stephen in stopper position to mark Babatunde.”
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Though at the stroke of final whistle, Babatunde pulled one back for ONGC as he headed a cross from N D Opara inside the goal.
Elijah Junior was adjudged man-of-the-match for his good performance.
ONGC coach, Subrata Bhattacharya said, “We did not play good football today. I have joined a month back and just got only 12-13 practice sessions as we have been traveling a lot to play away matches. I will need a little time. Hopefully, a win will help us to regain confidence and will improve our situation. We will try our best to avoid relegation. I have got a Japanese player in midfield and we will register his name soon. I think his inclusion will strengthen our midfield.”
Chirag United technical director, Subrata Bhattacharya, said, “I can now safely say that we are out of the relegation zone. We have been playing well and got points against Dempo, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Arnab Mandal and Lalkamal Bhowmick played well today. I feel Elijah Junior is a very good player, in the same class of Yusuf Yakubu and Jose Barretto, but he is a bit injury prone.”
