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| H. Thomthe of Air India (left) fights for the ball with Daniel of United SC during their I-League match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. A Telegraph picture |
Calcutta, Feb 15 : United SC coach Subrata Bhattacharya will breathe easy for a while. Riding a 25th minute strike by defender Daniel, United recorded a 1-0 win over a 10-man Air India in the 15th round of the I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium Saturday.
Following the successful outing there suddenly were some relieved faces in the United camp as the team now have 16 points from 15 matches. “We needed this win badly. I am not saying we are out of the relegation zone but these three points will help us a lot when the battle to beat the drop hots up,” Subrata was candid enough in the post-match news conference.
United’s victory was largely due to Daniel and Kingshuk Debnath’s performance on the day. While the Nigerian was a constant thorn in the rivals’ side with constant forays into the Air India defence, Debnath kept Air India’s Michael Tayo subdued. The visitors looked rudderless with Tayo hardly getting any space to make his presence felt.
Still they managed to create some chances, and, as always in the case of Air India, one came off a set-piece. A long throw-in from Uttam Singh reached the United box and goalkeeper Gopal Das made a hash of a simple gathering. Kailash Patil, who was lurking inside the box back-heeled but Daniel effected a fine goal-line save.
The Air India players appealed for a penalty but referee Shaji Kurian was not interested. “It was a penalty. Once again we have been victimised,” Air India coach Bimal Ghosh was livid after the match.
Ghosh, however, did not have an excuse over substitute Emmanuel’s red card in the 81st minute. The African import was given his marching orders for lunging into Daniel for no reason.
The all-important goal came in the 25th minute. The Air India defence could not clear a Lalmalswama Hmar corner and Denson Devadas’s attempt was deflected onto Daniel’s path.
The Nigerian kept his cool and slotted home, much to the delight of the United bench. A commendable win, no doubt, when the hosts’ in-form players, Snehashish Chakraborty and Gauranga Datta, are missing action due to injuries. “Our next stop is JCT and I am hopeful of getting these two back in action,” Subrata said.
It remains to be seen whether United manage three points in Ludhiana where JCT, in equal distress, are waiting to get back into the groove.
TEAMS
United SC: Gopal Das; Kingshuk Debnath, Louis Nigi Ebami, Daniel Bidemi Ayeni, Narugopal Hait; Soumik Chakraborty, Denson Devadas, Subhashis Roy Chowdhury, Lalmalswama Hamar, Subair Muritala Ali, Shankar Oraon.
Air India: Swarup Das; Napoleon Singh (Surojit Roy, 16, H Thomthe 65), Ravinder Singh (Emmanuel 54), Amritpal Singh, Uttam Singh, Soccor Velho, Kailash Patil, Chukwuma Udofia, Gauranga Biswas, Subhas Singh, Michael Tayo.
Referee: Shaji Kurian.
MoM: Louis Nigi Ebami