In a 4th round I-League 2009-10 match at the Calicut Corporation Stadium, Chirag United edged past Viva Kerala with a strike from their foreign striker Edmilson Marquez.
Chirag United went 1-0 up, as early as the 3rd minute, when Brazil’s Edmilson Marquez took the advantage of a mix up in the viva Kerala penalty box.
This was his 4th goal in the I-League 2009-10 from as much number of matches. The home team had a physical approach to the game throughout the first half as Chirag United strikers were the subjects to hard tackles by the Viva defence.
Viva’s first chance came from a Sakeer free kick from 30 yards out at the 32nd minute. The kick which was destined for the back of the net was pushed away for a corner by Chirag keeper Somnath Khara.
The first half ended with the score line reading 1-0. Viva coach AM Sreedharan pulled off the forward Shibinlal and replaced him with defender Mohammed Marsook. Their Ghanaian defender Bello Razaq played in the midfield supporting Reuben Senyo. Bhimal Birua was replaced by P Sajesh. Subrata Bhattacharya made a single change during halftime – Gauranda Dutta coming on for Malsawmtlunga.
Chirag didn’t have much off a reply to Viva Kerala’s attacks in the second half. In the 67th minute, captain Sakeer’s beautiful long shot was alleged of hitting a Chirag defender’s hand, but the referee deciding against the home team.
In the 71st minute, Senyo couldn’t connect to a lob from Bello Razaq. Minutes later Viva came close to scoring from 2 successive corners.
Sreedharan made his intentions clear by bringing striker Anish KP on to the pitch. Anish dribbled past 2 Chirag defenders and tried to score. But Khara produced a marvellous save.In the dying minutes, Viva created several chances. But they weren’t lucky enough to get the goal that would have levelled the things up.
Viva Kerala’s Reuben Senyo was yellow carded for a foul and their captain MP Sakeer for arguing with the referee. Sakeer was later adjudged as the best player on the pitch today.
The home team now lies at the bottom of the table with no points and no goals scored, while Chirag United Sports Club has 10 points from the possible 12.
Adwaidh R writes for footballkerala
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Friday 23 October 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.