Peter sends Dempo on top
AGENCIES
KOLKATA, APRIL 11
Riding on an early second half strike by Peter Carvalho, Dempo Sports Club edged past East Bengal 1-0 in a round 20 ONGC I-League match at Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata on Sunday evening.
This was the first time that Dempo had beaten East Bengal in Kolkata in the country’s top division league ever since it came into being back in 1996.
East Bengal started with Syed Rahim Nabi upfront with Yusuf Yakubu while a five man midfield was in operation as conceptualized by their coach Philippe De Ridder. Armando Colaco brought back Abhijit Mondal, who had shrugged off his injury worries, between the sticks while Cresson Antao was at the heart of the defence instead of Anwar with John Dias.
Abel Hammond struck a powerful shot from the edge of the box which Abhijit Mondal did well to collect as early as in the fourth minute. Four minutes later, a dipping free-kick from Yakubu was palmed in time by Mondal to deny East Bengal a lead inside the first quarter.
Abhra Mondal had a couple of nervous moments where he came off his line to see the ball go elsewhere and on one occasion where he actually punched the ball, it went as far as Valeriano Rebello whose shot went sailing over the bar.
It was surprising to see the Dempo players struggle to string together a couple of passes as they just couldn’t find their feet in the game. The midfielders were the guilty party perhaps the extra man of East Bengal gave them the advantage.
The only error which Mondal did commit was when he missed the Mehtab Hussain free-kick as Syed Nabi and Saumik Dey couldn’t slot the ball in midway through the first half.
Nabi had another opportunity when Yakubu’s corner kick found him in free space inside the Dempo half and his header went wide.
After the break, the introduction of Clifford Miranda instilled some spark in the Dempo side as he won a corner from which his side got the lead. Pereira sent in the ball which was coolly slotted in by an otherwise off colour Peter to change the scoreline in favour of them in the 47th minute.
Dempo had two quick chances in succession around the hour mark as Clifford’s cross saw Ranti chest the ball down and in the process to control it, he allowed Abhra Mondal to deny the Nigerian.
The very next minute, an Anthony Pereira corner kick saw Abhra jump in vain to collect and Cresson Antao disappointingly couldn’t do much with the goal at his mercy.
Alvito D’Cunha came on for Nabi and had a couple of good shots but East Bengal looked resigned to their fate as they never really came up with any good opportunities in the second session.
For Dempo, they would thank their luck to come off the game with three points while East Bengal shall wonder as to what went wrong after the break and why they couldn’t convert their dominance into advantage.
