I-LEAGUE Media Team

NEW DELHI: Gameweek 6 of the Hero I-League will be special for two teams in particular – Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC. The reason being that the outfit from Mumbai got their first three points of the campaign, and the defending champions recorded three wins in a row.

The Gameweek will also be a memorable one for new entrants Royal Wahingdoh FC, as they returned to the top of the Hero I-League points table, after a two-week hiatus. The Shillong outft, riding on goals from Seityasen Singh and Kim Song Yong, got past a struggling Sporting Clube de Goa with a 2-0 scoreline in the weekend.

Medio Jackichand Singh and Brandon Fernandes from RWFC and SCG respectively were absent from the game owing to their injuries. Although SCG gave the second start of the I-League this season to Sandesh Jhingan, the defensive rock could not prevent the Royals from getting the goals.

Mumbai FC got their season up and running as they got past a strong Salgaocar side at the Cooperage Ground. This was the second game of this season’s I-League at the venue, and Khalid Jamil’s side made sure to return with a win, following the last round’s draw.

Goals from Sampath KuttyMani, Josimar, and Jayesh Rane gave a comfortable 3-0 scoreline for the hosts, as they disallowed Subrata Paul from clinching another clean sheet. The Greens from Goa started with the pairing of Darryl Duffy and Douhou Pierre, but even after creating a flurry of chances, they could not get past a stern Nidhin Lal.

Robin Singh’s first-half strike and then another goal from Thoi Singh in the second half sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory for Bengaluru FC over struggling Shillong Lajong FC at the Kanteerava Stadium.

The victory took Ashley Westwood’s to the second spot in the table after the game, although following the gameweek, they were pushed down to the third spot by RWFC.

BFC defender Curtis Osano was shown a direct Red Card in the game for pulling down Cornell Glen just outside the box. However, even that did not prevent BFC from getting past the hapless Shillong side, who have now recorded four losses from five games.

New entrants Bharat FC are yet to taste a win this season, as they were once again held to a 1-1 draw by Kingfisher East at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata in the weekend.

East Bengal did not field some of their key players, owing to their derby against Mohun Bagan on Feb 17, but still, they went on to prevent Stuart Watkiss’ side from getting the win. Ranti Martins gave the home side the lead, but the debutantes came back through Kris Bright’s goal in the second half.

A travelling Dempo SC frustrated Pune FC in a goalless draw at the Balewadi Stadium in the weekend. The match was a tight midfield battle right from the start, and even after 90 mins of play, the game remained a stalemate.

Top 3 Teams (in order of Ranking):

Royal Wahingdoh FC – 13 points
 

Pune FC – 11 points
 

Bengaluru FC – 10 points

Top Goalscorer:

Ranti Martins (KEB) – 4 goals from 5 games
 

Thongkhosiem Haokip (PFC) – 4 goals from 6 games