|
Calcutta: Pailan Arrows would be facing a resurgent Salgaocar in the 18th round I-League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday.
Arrows, who lost their last match against McDowell Mohun Bagan, have the problem of not being able to convert the chances. As a result, they are yet to register a single win in the championship so far.
Arrows goalkeeping coach Tanumoy Basu said: “Undoubtedly Salgaocar are a champion side, whom you can’t take lightly. But our team is not any runover team. We put up a good fight against Mohun Bagan. If we could have converted the chances which came our way, the story would have been different.”
“Due to inexperience and less maturity, we are losing our matches in the last 15-20 minutes. We tried to rectify the problem and would be keen to use the chances that we produce. We hope to put up a good fight against them and hopefully it will be a very competitive match,” he added.
Salgaocar on the other hand are back on the track after the first leg setbacks. Their last loss came against Pune FC in the 9th round. They will bank on ace striker Edeh Chidi against Arrows.
Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa said: “Every match is a new match you got to start afresh. Though we are improving in every match, we need to stay focused if we want to improve our ranking in the league table.”
Salgaocar have 29 points from 17 matches while Arrows managed only 7 points from 15 matches.
Meanwhile, in Pune, Ranti Martins scored a brace, including an injurytime goal as Dempo beat Mumbai F.C. 2-0 to consolidate their position at the top of the I-League table in the 18th round match at the Balewadi Sports Complex ground on Wednesday.
Nigerian striker Ranti Martins scored the first goal from a penalty while the second was a sitter with Mumbai FC goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh nowhere in the picture.
Dempo now have 40 points from 18 matches, while Mumbai F.C. stay at 14 points.
Sporting Clube de Goa rallied nicely from two goals down to snatch a 4-2 victory against Pune F.C. at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. Riding on a solitary goal from Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Shillong Lajong F.C. defeated HAL 1-0 in Bangalore.
| 
