Lucky Bagan manage full points

In fact, Bagan strikers Bhaichung Bhutia and Lalawmpuia had very little scope of making their presence felt as they lacked support upfront.

After taking the lead, coach Karim Bencherifa strangely opted to defend deep, which created a huge gap between the attacking-third and the middle-third. Churchill accepted the favour gleefully and took their opponents by the scruff of the neck. But they couldn8217;t score because of poor finishing and the fact that the Bagan defenders didn8217;t allow Odafe Okolie any space to manoeuvre.

In the 19th minute, a misunderstanding between Bagan defender Peter Odafe and goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee gave Reishngmi Vasmum a golden opportunity to equalise. But he delayed his shot and allowed NS Manju to save the situation for the hosts. In the 47th minute, another Odafe error gave Felix Chimhokwu a clear sight of goal, but he too couldn8217;t convert. In the 68th minute, Okolie set up for substitute Nicholas Rodrigues; the latter took an overhead kick from eight yards that sailed over the crossbar.

To their credit, Bagan defended manfully. Dipak Mondal was outstanding, though the Man of the Match award went to his Brazilian team mate Marcos Pereira. The hosts also had a few chances against the run of play in the second half. Lalawmpuia had a one-on-one with Bhattacharya in the 69th but hit it straight at the goalkeeper. In the 80th minute, James Singh wasted another one from close range. Late in the match, Bhutia had dropped back in the midfield 8212; a move which helped ease off the pressure.

Against his old team, it was a prestige fight for the Bagan coach. Bencherifa can heave a sigh of relief as his team won and moved to nine points, while Churchill stay on 12. The visitors learnt the lesson the hard way that in football, winning is everything.