Air India coach Yusuf Ansari (left) congratulates goalkeeper Arup Debnath after the match against Chirag United, on Saturday. A Telegraph pciture

Calcutta: While soccer is being played at a breakneck speed world over, the Chirag United-Air India I-League match, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Saturday could aptly be classified as action in slow motion.

Durand Cup champions Chirag were supposed to be the favourites against the Mumbai side, but thanks to their lopsided effort, one point was all they could gather as they played out a 0-0 draw.

The first half saw Chirag create three chances. First it was a Junior header which did beat Air India ’keeper Arup Debnath but couldn’t avoid the off-side trap. Denson Devadas messed up the other two opportunities in the 42nd and the 43rd minutes respectively. On both instances he undid the good work with shots that lacked guile and landed straight in the ’keeper’s lap.

However, the highlight of first half had little to do with good football. In the 33rd minute, Air India coach Yusuf Ansari was asked to leave the field by referee Magho Singh for showing dissent (kicking a water bottle). It was strange because, going by the flow of the match, it was Subrata Bhattacharya who had enough reasons to be distraught.

Ansari, in fact, quipped after the match that his sending off ‘helped’ the team. “You see, at times some decisions help your team… After I was sent off, the team gained unity, which they were lacking initially, and went on to play a better match,” Ansari said.

Maybe true, but more than Air India putting up a better flight, it was Chirag’s ‘darkness’ in the midfield that cost them dear. While Lalkamal Bhowmick and Devadas failed to locate the strikers with proper passes, Jerry Zirsanga and Subhash Chakraborty’s operation down the flanks led them nowhere.

The easiest chance of the match fell to Junior and the Nigerian maintained his consistency by making a mess of it. With only an out-of-position rival ’keeper at his mercy, Junior had to manage a simple lob. But he lobbed heavenwards rather than directing it towards the goal.

With such listless shows, heaven is where Chirag will have to look up to for points.

Teams

Chirag United: Abhijit Mondal, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Arnab Mondal, Chika Wali, Narugopal Hait, Jerry Zirsanga (Mohammed Rafique, 64), Denson Devadas, Lalkamal Bhowmick, Subhash Chakraborty (Gouranga Biswas, 73), Joshimar (Asif K, 84), Junior Elijah

Air India: Arup Debnath, Collin Abranches, L. Dhanachandra Singh, Amritpal Singh, Uttam Kumar Singh, Darren Caldeira (Sukhwinder Singh, 67), Yusuf Tijani, Vijith Shetty, Dharamjit Singh (Benoy Kuruvilla, 88), Samson Singh (Soccor Velho, 79), Manjit Singh

Referee: Magho Singh

MoM: Arup Debnath