Ranty Martins gets East Bengal three points in I-League's opening match

Ranty Martins struck twice as East Bengal rallied to beat Sporting Clube de Goa 3-1 at home in their opening match of the I-League. Sporting Clube de Goa, who had a better share of exchanges in the initial period, led 1-0 at half time courtesy a 29th minute goal by Odafe Okolie.
East Bengal improved their performance in the second half.Man-of-the-match Martins (67th and 80th) and Bikas Jairu (78th) scored to give EB full points.

Both the teams adopted a cautious approach in the first half.Sporting Clube de Goa came up with a couple of good moves before Odafe Okalie put his team ahead in the 29th minute when he dodged past defender Arnab Mondal and Bello Rasaq to find the far corner of the net.

East Bengal could not create impact on the rival defence until coach Biswajit Bhattacharjee introduced Sabeeth Sathyan and Mohammed Rafique to support Martins.

EXCITING DRAW

Shillong Lajong FC and Mumbai FC shared points following a goalless draw in their campaign opener in Shillong. Both sides got off to an exciting start and strikers at both ends had chances but failed to score. The home team's Nigerian striker Penn Orji and Mumbai's Eric Brown came the closest in the first half.

Resuming after the break, Lajong continued with their raids at the Mumbai goal but once again failed to convert the chances that came their way. Mumbai players might have been affected by the cold weather conditions and the high altitude in Shillong.