Indian Football: Joby Justin’s heroics helps East Bengal complete the double over Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC’s unbeaten run ends, Indian Women’s team hammer Indonesia, and much more…

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Welcome to another edition of the Indian football news roundup. Today, we will speak about East Bengal’s 2-0 win over Mohun Bagan in the I-League Kolkata Derby, the end of Bengaluru FC’s unbeaten run in the ISL, Indian Women’s Team hammering Indonesia, and the draw played out in the Northeast Derby between Aizawl FC and NEROCA.

In case you missed out yesterday’s edition of the Indian football news roundup, you can check it out here.

I-League: Joby Justin’s heroics help East Bengal complete a double over Mohun Bagan

Joby Justin and Jaime Santos Colado were on target as East Bengal outclassed Mohun Bagan in the I-League Kolkata Derby
Joby Justin and Jaime Santos Colado were on target as East Bengal outclassed Mohun Bagan in the I-League Kolkata Derby

East Bengal completed their double over Mohun Bagan in the I-League this season thanks to Joby Justin’s heroics who scored one goal and set-up the other. However, this win doesn’t change the Red and Gold’s position in the points table as they are still behind Real Kashmir on account of goal difference.

Both the sides approached the game cautiously as they didn’t want to concede early. However, once the 30-minute mark was passed, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan blazed all their guns. East Bengal finally broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when Joby Justin took the ball from the legs of Eze Kingsley. The Keralite passed it towards Jaime Santos Colado, who in turn slotted it past the hapless goalkeeper.

The scoreline remained the same when the referee signalled for half-time. Mohun Bagan looked the more lively side as the teams came out and even found the back of the net in the 53th minute. However, the assistant referee raised his flag as Dipanda Dicka was marginally offside.

Mohun Bagan couldn’t recover from the grief and, Joby Justin made them pay in the 75th minute. Lalrindika Ralte stepped up to take a curling corner-kick which the Keralite headed home despite not facing towards goal.

The final scoreline remained 2-0 as the East Bengal defense denied Mohun Bagan to score even a consolation goal. The Red and Gold will next cross swords with NEROCA on 7th February whereas the Mariners have a stern and rejuvenated Gokulam test awaiting three days later.

ISL: Bengaluru FC’s unbeaten run ends in the hands of Mumbai City FC

Bengaluru FC tasted their first defeat of the season as Mumbai City FC pipped them 1-0 at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai. A swift counter-attacking move saw Paulo Machado slotting the ball past the rival goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, which was enough to separate the two sides.

Although the Islanders have played a match more, they are the new table-toppers with 27 points from 13 matches. Bengaluru FC, too, have the same points in their bag but have played a match less.

Next up for Bengaluru FC is a daunting Northeast United FC challenge on 30th January, who are sitting third on the table. Mumbai City FC, on the other hand, will lock horns against FC Goa on 1st February on the same venue.

Indian Women’s Team hammer Indonesia in the run-up to the Olympics Qualifiers

Indian Women’s team continued their fine form in the run-up to the Olympics Qualifiers as they hammered Indonesia 3-0. Ratanbala Devi scored all the three goals as she completed her hat-trick in a span of 11 minutes.

India blazed all their guns from the opening whistle itself but spirited defending from the Indonesians and a little help from the lady luck kept the scoreline intact. India finally got rewarded for their continuous attacks in the 68th minute when Ratanbala Devi drew first blood for the away side. In the 71th and the 79th minute, she again scored to pile further misery on the Indonesians.

I-League: 10-Man NEROCA hold Aizawl FC

In the 02:00 p.m. kickoff game of the day, NEROCA and Aizawl played out a lackluster goalless draw. NEROCA’s Eduardo Ferreira was shown the red card in the 48th minute but, Aizawl FC failed to capitalize on it.