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ONGC FC’s Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa was all over the pitch working his way through Air India defence, before the visitors scored 2-1 win in their Round 17 I-League Football Championship match here on Sunday.
Man-of-the-match Yusa scored an equalizer and set up several chances that went a begging before the combination of Kenistan C and Subair Muritala Ali found the winning goal for the ONGC FC. The win pushed them to No 6 on I-League table with 27 points, as they jumped over their fellow Mumbai team, Mumbai FC, which has 26 points from 19 matches.
Nigerian striker Henry Ezeh had put host Air India ahead in the 41st minute heading in Elijah Junior’s cross from the left wing, but they failed to sustain the momentum later on.
The loss meant that Air India will stay at No 12 position with 18 points from 18 matches. Air India do have two matches in hand.
The first half was absolutely weary as both the teams took time to get into their grooves after a long break from competitive football.
Yusa was marked heavily from the start, but Air India captain Vijit Shetty paid price for pushing the Japanese down while he was on a clear run in the 19th minute. Taking advantage of the free-kick Eric Brown and Naresh Aula set up Yusa in the box, but his shot flew over the top in the 20th minute.
Four minutes later Parwinder Singh’s screamer from about 30 yards threatened the Air India post, but goalkeeper Sukhwinder Sing dived perfectly to punch the ball out. The ONGC FC carried out relentless attacks while Air India managed to unsettle the visiting team’s defence only twice before the break.
But as the luck would have it, it was Elijah Junior’s brilliant cross from left sideline found Henry Ezeh in the box and the Nigerian wasted no time in heading it over the flummoxed ONGC custodian Rehnesh TP.
ONGC never lost faith in their ability even after they were down by a goal. Yusa raved up from the centre and earned a spot kick after he was brought down by Baldeep Singh and Vijith Shetty. He coolly converted the penalty pushing into the right corner.
Just when it seemed that the match would end in a draw, Santosh Kashyap coached ONGC broke the ice through Muritala Ali, who had played for erstwhile Mahindra United and then Chirag United before joining the ONGC.
