The Hindu : Sport / Football : Viva Kerala shocks Bagan

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Friday, Nov 30, 2007
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Viva Kerala shocks Bagan

Principal Correspondent

KOLKATA: Viva Kerala shocked Mohun Bagan 3-1 in a second round match of the I-League football here on Thursday. The match, played under lights at the Salt Lake Stadium, saw Viva Kerala leading the charge as it took a 2-0 lead at half time.

Mohun Bagan pulled one back after the change of ends but the visitor finished with flourish scoring another one in the fag end of the encounter.

Playing without its injured Brazilian striker, Jose Barreto, Bagan failed to put together a cohesive show and ended up leaving the initiative to Viva Kerala. The visitor made most of the confusion in the opposition ranks and found the lead in the 14th minute. Striker B. Baba Tunde tapped home after Bagan defender Douglas da Silva failed to clear a floater from K.V. Lalu, leaving the former with an easy chance.

Defensive error

The lead was doubled 10 minutes later and this time the visitor was helped again by a defensive error committed by the home side. The second goal came from Viva Kerala’s other African recruit, Wisdom Abbey, who made the most of a spill by Bagan defender Peter Odafe, who had failed to receive a pass from custodian Shilton Paul.

Bagan, having lost the first round match to JCT 1-2, tried hard to make a comeback. It succeeded somewhat pulling one back through substitute Ishfaq Ahmed in the 74th minute. But the equaliser remained elusive as Viva Kerala sealed the win with Abbey scoring in the 89th minute.

The win gave Viva Kerala, which had lost the first match 0-2 to East Bengal, three points from two matches. Mohun Bagan is yet to score a point.

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