I-League: Ten-man Mohun Bagan beat Churchill 1-0

A 10-man Mohun Bagan rode a Balwant Singh goal to edge past Churchill Brothers 1-0 in an I-League football match at the Barasat Stadium here on Sunday.

Balwant scored in the 28th minute in a match the visitors played without any foreigners.

Bagan's U-22 player Subhashish Bose picked a second yellow card in the 63rd minute to be given the marching orders.

Churchill got their best chance in second half injury time when substitute Angelo Colaco's strike hit the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Bagan started better but lacked the cutting edge in their attacking. But theu went ahead two minutes before the half hour mark when Balwant powered in a header off a Pritam Kotal cross from the right flank.

The hosts went into the break leading by the solitary goal.

In the second half, Churchill fared better but failed to create any opportunity clear cut chances, despite being a man up. Bose was shown a second yellow card for a push on Seriton Fernandes after getting first booked in the 55th minute.

The last minutes of the match were tense for the home side as Churchill tried to wrest the advantage but Mohun Bagan managed to hold on.

Elsewhere on Sunday, newcomers Chennai City FC and Minerva Punjab FC played out a goalless draw, enabling both teams to notch their first ever I-League football points in Chennai.

It was the visitors who started the game on a better note but Chennai fashioned the first real chance of the game in the 5th minute but couldn't finish it off.

Five minutes later, Chennai's Lalnun Mawia had a free header at goal but it went straight at Minerva goalkepeer Ravi Kumar.

The match soon settled into a midfield battle but it was Lalnun Mawia who had the best chance of the night in the 34th minute. Dhanpal Ganesh started the move, brilliantly winning a ball in midfield and played Haroon Amiri clear. Though his first cross was blocked, the second one fell to an unmarked Lalnun Mawia but his left-footer went straight to Ravi Kumar.

The change of ends did not seem to have an effect as the home side seemed to be creating more chances.

Mumbai FC defeated DSK Shivajians 1-0 in Mumbai.

--IANS

sam/dg