Agencies
NEW DELHI: Caution is in the air and the number of draws in the Round 18 round of I-League reflects it. With just over seven rounds left for the marathon affair to end, four tense stalemates in a round perhaps brings to the fore that each and every club is now questing to cut their coat according to the cloth!
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Among the heavyweights, only East Bengal managed to pull off a nerve wrecking win over Pune FC in a high-voltage top of the table clash. A 75th minute winner from Chidi Edeh helped the Kolkata giants bridge the gap to two points with leaders Churchill Bros at the top of the tree.
The Goan outfit failed to garner three points against Mumbai FC on the road. A goalless draw saw the one time I-League champions relinquish their lead, a result which they will never relish.
Meanwhile, third-placed Dempo also met the same fate as they were frustrated once again by giant-killers ONGC — this time in their own backyard. Sans Peter Carvalho’s injury time strike, the most accomplished side in the league would have suffered their second defeat against ONGC.
Elsewhere, Mohun Bagan were held by local rivals Prayag United 1-1 courtesy Ranti Martins’ late equalizer that negated Tolgay Ozbey’s opening goal.
Pailan Arrows showed character to come back from behind and snatch a point against United Sikkim. Tirthankar Sarkar’s goal dashed the newcomers’ hope of a much-needed win which would have helped their cause of avoiding relegation.
In Shillong, Shillong Lajong FC had everything to play for against 11th placed Air India in an intense mid table clash which ended 2-2. Debutant Sho Kamimura’s 90th minute equalizer helped the side share the spoils and in the process not let their counterpart pip them in the League standings.
