Air India down East Bengal for first win

After 23 days of staying grounded, the Air-India flight finally took off, the local side registering their first victory, in the sixth round of the I-League, against fancied East Bengal at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Monday.

The solitary goal win for the airmen was piloted by captain Paresh Shivalkar, whose rasping volley in the 62nd minute beat India custodian Subrata Pal all ends up.

It was makeshift right wing-back Vijith Shetty who pulled the ball back from the goalline for the slippery left-winger on the other side of the pitch to blast the matchwiner after Bashiru Abbas had set Shetty free with a clever through pass from the midfield.

The victory helps Air-India soar to fifth spot with seven points, the same as East Bengal.

The two sides also share the same goal difference (-1), although the famed Red and Gold brigade have scored more goals.

Man-of-the-match Shivalkar could have added another goal to his tally as he rattled the crosspiece with a sizzling strike from outside the danger area late in the first session with Pal completely beaten.

After a fairly promising start, the Kolkata outfit, who have three losses as compared to two wins plus a draw, faded out, their reputation as three-time NFL champions lying in tatters by the time Goan referee Benjamin Silva blew the final whistle.

Their defence was prone to errors, their midfield was non-functional and their forwards Edmilson Marques and 2002 South African World Cupper Macdonald Mukansi bereft of supply.

In fact, the dangerous Brazilian striker was marked out of the game by young Amritpal Singh and Indian Under-19 skipper Nirmal Chettri playing in the sweeper position. Mukansi tried to manoeuvre a bit but was unable to break down the rugged Air-India defense.

To add to the visitors' woes, Alvito D'Cunha, their inspirational playmaker, had an off-day today, being replaced in the 71st minute by Dipendu Biswas as the outsiders opted for a three-man attack to restore parity.

The only time East Bengal threatened the rival citadel was from their set pieces and  Edmilson (twice) and Majek Bolaji narrowly missed the target from headed attempts. That besides, the visitors failed to string together a single decent move that had the look of goal written on it.

The fighting fit locals on the other hand sallied forth often in snap air raids and managed to pound the rival citadel with their battery of loose canons.

Left-wing back Uttam Singh troubled the East Bengal defence with his long throw in.

From one such episode, Pal brought off an acrobatic save to thwart a blinder from Suley Musah in the 16th minute. A few minutes later, Soumik Dey almost scored a self-goal but an alert Pal redeemed the situation.

Subrata Bhattacharjee's side will have to reincarnate themselves into a match-winning outfit in double quick time if they want to revive their flagging campaign as they trail seven points behind leaders Dempo.

For Bimal Ghosh's outfit, who relish playing on the small Cooperage turf, a few more points earned at home will boost their chances of staying afloat in the premier division.

Air-India take on Dempo at the Cooperage on December 20 while East Bengal will also meet Mahindra United at the Cooperage on December 23.