Mariners face bottom club

statesman news service
KOLKATA, 30 NOV: McDowell Mohun Bagan take on Rangdajied United in the round 12 clash of the Airtel I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Newly-promoted Rangdajied United are yet to win this season as they have only managed five draws and five defeats from their first ten games.
But Mohun Bagan also don’t have much form on their side as they are winless in four matches and have managed to score just once in that period.
While Rangdajied are rock-bottom in the table, the Mariners are placed ninth with 11 points from 10 outings. The Kolkata club are seven points off the top and thus need to win this home game if they want to challenge for the title.
Mohun Bagan are coming into this fixture after two intense derbies and coach Karim Becherifa believes that took a lot out of his team physically. But the Moroccan is looking forward to this match and has full faith in skipper and star striker Odafa Okolie to come good after failing to score in the last two games. “It is not easy to play two derbies in three days but I could see the willingness of my boys to fight and hopefully now we will get a positive result in the next game. Odafa always has my support and I think all he needs is one goal under his belt,” Bencherifa was quoted as saying.
Rangdajied coach Santosh Kashyap did a great job in guiding ONGC to safety last season but faces an even tougher task at the Shillong club because he has a very inexperienced squad at his disposal. The additions of Subrata Pal, Gouramangi Singh, Manandeep Singh and Tomba Singh has helped Kashyap&’s cause but the team has still been guilty of throwing away leads as in the last game they opened the scoring against Mumbai FC but were eventually held to a 1-1 draw. It was their third straight draw.
Pune v United SC
Dutch coach Mike Snoei and Pune Football Club are living a dream week after getting a play-off berth in the top tier AFC Champions League and would like to celebrate the occasion by winning the first match at home since that announcement.Pune FC is currently on the top with 18 points, same as the top two clubs, Salgaocar FC and Bengaluru FC. United SC is at No 4 position with 16 points and have been a revelation this season despite running on low finances and travelling around the country in train while other team players fly to various venues. In other important I-League matches Salgaocar face Sporting Clube while high-flying Bengaluru FC take on Shillong Lajong.

Advertisement