Rejuvenated Mohammedan Sporting take on Rajasthan United

KOLKATA: There will not be much at stake when Mohammedan Sporting take on Rajasthan United in the Hero I-League in Kishore Bharati Krirangan on Tuesday after their impressive 6-4 win over Sreenidi Deccan. With each side having just three games left, both sides appear to have escaped the relegation battle. Kolkata’s side are eight points clear of the relegation zone on 23 points, while Rajasthan United are on 22 points. Winning the title or getting promoted to the Indian Super League has long been out of the question. However, these two sides have taken different paths since they last met in early January and ended up 1-1.

Mohammedan has defeated significantly higher ranked teams like Gokulam Kerala and Sreenidi. They also fought hard against Real Kashmir in Srinagar – a match most teams struggle to come to terms with. The loss against Aizawl was also close. The only team to outplay them was current leaders RoundGlass Punjab FC. Under Kibu Vicuna, Mohammedan Sporting looked like a team that did everything right but didn’t get the results. The change under new coach Mehrajuddin Wadoo was dramatic. Everyone seemed to be able to take every chance in the attacking third against Sreenidi. Maintaining this form will of course be the challenge.

Wadoo is well aware of this and said at the pre-game press conference: “Even when you win you make mistakes and try to correct them in training. We did that too after the last game.”

On the other hand, the Kundu boys enjoyed a seven-game winning streak after defeating Sreenidi in the game following the draw against Mohammedan Sporting on January 6th. When they defeated Sreenidi, it was expected that the power curve could only go up. But the exact opposite happened. The Churchill Brothers scored five goals against the defense of Aidar Mambetaliev, Amritpal Singh and Hardik Bhatt. Rajasthan have struggled to keep a clean sheet all season and Abiola Dauda, ​​Kean Lewis and others are in such good goal-form that Wadoo didn’t miss the likes of Marcus Joseph for even a moment in the last game.

Rajasthan finally managed to win as they defeated NEROCA FC by a single goal in the last game. But it was through a happy deflection from a defender. They need to be more creative on offense and even better on defense to keep the black and white brigade looking to end the season on a high.

Kundu analyzed the situation perfectly on Monday: “At the beginning of the season we were both title contenders, but today one is eighth in the points table and the other is ninth. But that’s the beauty of the game. A win could give us both a better position in the table.”

Wadoo felt both teams will be equally interested in winning the tie. “Rajasthan are a very good team and are very close to us in the table. I think they will be just as hungry for points as we are because we want to finish as high in the table as possible. You must be thinking the same thing,” he remarked.

The game will be broadcast live from 7 p.m. on the Eurosport, DD Sports and Discovery Plus OTT platforms.