0-1 loss puts Mumbai side in further trouble.
A 66th minute strike by Emmanuel Okoro helped JCT snatch three points against a depleted Air India in their Round 23 encounter at the Cooperage on Thursday.
Air India needed to win the match to stay abovethe relegation zone. Yousuf Ansari’s boys, however, were pretty ordinary on the day. They had better chances, enjoyed more possession but never looked like troubling the JCT defence, let alone scoring.
JCT, who extended their winning streak to three matches, seem to have consolidated their middle of the table position after a mixed season. They are seventh in the table of 14 and have collected 31 points from 23 ties. Air India remain at 10th with 25 points from 23 matches.
Air India striker Samson Singh returned to the starting line-up after a long injury lay-off but the hosts missed the services of Dada Nabeel up front. Absence of other key players like Kailash Patil and Alan Dias didn’t help their cause either.
The match lacked pace for most of the 90 minutes. JCT were content in staying in their own half and occasionally moved forward as Air India failed to offer any creativity.
The visitors went ahead somewhat against the run of play as Okoro squeezed his way between Peter Odafe and Uttam Singh to unleash a left-footer which found the back of the net. The striker has been in good form lately as he scored his third goal in as many matches.
Okoro could have doubled JCT’s lead three minutes from time when he dribbled past three defenders but his shot went over the crossbar.
EB take on Sporting Clube
Having crashed to their sixth straight loss to Al-Nejmeh in AFC Cup, East Bengal coach Philippe de Ridder had said that I-League is their first priority. The struggling Kolkata outfit take on bottom-ranked Sporting Clube de Goa in a Round 23 clash at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
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