Kolkata: Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting played out a goal-less draw in a Round 20 encounter of the I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday.
It was 0-0 back in November last as well in the first leg while two other clashes in other competitions this season had also ended all square. Today's result takes Mohun Bagan's points tally to 21 from 19 games while Mohammedan Sporting are on 17 with two matches less.
Mohun Bagan skipper Odafa Okolie was available again after returning from injury and was given the start by Karim Bencherifa. The Nigerian started brightly and also had the game's first real effort but his glancing header narrowly missing the target.
Mohammedan Sporting came into this game on the back of an impressive win over title-chasing Sporting Clube de Goa but their play lacked intensity and the approach was cautious.
But Sanjoy Sen's side could have taken the lead when Taro Hasegawa's cross was nearly put into the back of his own net by Echezona Anyichie. The green-and-maroon outfit showed more purpose going forward n the first half with Odafa dropping deep and playing some neat passes but he lacked support from his teammates.
Tolgay Ozbey scored twice as Dempo capitalised on Sporting clube de Goa's shaky defence to score an impressive 4-0 win in their 20th round I-League match.
Dempo, who led 4-0 at half time, scored through Tolgay (16th, 30th), Roberto Silva(18th) and Clifford Miranda (25th). Sporting clube de Goa, who lost to Mohammedan Sporting in their last outing, could not afford to lose further as that would see them slip in the points table. Sporting started promisingly, but Kalu Ogba and Boima Karpeh missed the target narrowly.
Tackles from their defenders Deepak Devrani and Keenan Almeida saw Sporting concede two penalty in a span of two minutes, and Dempo scored off both. Clifford Miranda found the target off Allwyn George's pass, for the team's third goal.
In another match, Star striker and skipper Sunil Chhetri struck twice as Bengaluru FC thrashed Churchill Brothers 3-0 in a Round 20 match to remain on top of the I-League points table.
A Robin Singh strike in the 61st minute sandwiched between a Chhetri (56th and 89th) double showed the resilience that Ashley Westwood's side possesses after they suffered a 2-3 loss to Rangdajied United last week in Shillong. The win takes Bengaluru to 34 points from 18 games while Churchill's quest for survival was handed a severe blow. The Goan side still remained in the relegation zone.
Following today's match, Chhetri's goal tally in the competition went up to 12 -- making him the highest scorer in the tournament so far. Just like the away leg at Goa, Bengaluru got off to an unusually sedate start and did not look like troubling the visitors who had their fair share of possession.
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