I-LEAGUE Media Team
NEW DELHI: If Gameweek 3 of the Hero I-League made some statement, Gameweek 4 was the perfect icing on the cake. Although a game was postponed out of the five scheduled games, the excitement did not in any way get affected.
If last round was something that did not at all go in Bengaluru FC’s way, following a narrow loss against Kingfisher East Bengal; Ashley Westwood’s team made it sure to come out of their slumber with a bang, and they did so! Thoi Singh scored a wonderful brace in Shillong, to give his side a huge 4-0 victory over former table toppers Royal Wahingdoh.
This was RWFC’s first loss in the campaign – where they earned a hat-trick of wins since their debut – and more interestingly, this was the very first Home game for the Royals, and Santosh Kahyap’s men failed to earn a win.
Starting the match for BFC for the first time, CK Vineeth scored in the first half to give his side the lead. This was followed by a goal from medio Eugeneson Lyngdoh, and from then, the goals came from Thoi.
Westwood’s men have right now moved to the seventh position in the table, following their first win this season.
The other highlight of this Round was a splendid Maharashtra Derby, contested between Pune FC and Mumbai FC. PFC hosted MUM at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune, and the Home Team came out with a 3-2 victory, in what was touted to be as one of the most heated matches of the season so far.
The game had all the ingredients of a Derby, with a huge crowd turning up in the evening, carrying drums, ‘dhols’, and ‘tashas’. Into the game, and right from the start, it was a heated battle between the two sides.
Brazilian defender Luciano Sobroso started the scoring for PFC, but moments later, the scores were levelled after Josimar’s goal. Darko Nikac and Ryuji Sueoka gave the home side the lead later, but Mohammed Rafi’s late goal for MUM also couldn’t Mumbai back to the match, as it was too late.
Sueoka was awarded the Hero of the Match for his impressive performances in the evening.
Off to Kolkata, and Kingfisher East Bengal got their second-straight Home Win of the season, as they got past Shillong Lajong FC with a 2-1 scoreline. Lajong’s misery in the away games continued following a hard defeat in Pune in Gameweek 4.
Cornell Glen scored the equaliser for the away side in the first half, following Ranti Martin’s opener, but Ranti’s second goal of the game in the 2nd Half, took away any chance of Lajong coming back to the game.
In Goa, Sporting Clube de Goa and Salgaocar FC were at loggerheads, but following the end of the match at the Fatorda Stadium, the Greens got past the Oranje army with a 2-0 scoreline. Bikash Jairu scored the opener for SFC, but a horrible mistake from Sporting Goa defender Joyner Lourenco and custodian Ravi Kumar, resulted in an Own Goal.
Although SCG tried hard to get back into the game, they failed to do so.
Top 3 Teams (in order of Ranking):
Pune FC – 10 points
Royal Wahingdoh FC – 9 points
Kingfisher East Bengal – 7 points
Top Goalscorer:
Thongkhosiem Haokip (PFC) – 4 goals
