It was another high-scoring week in the Hero I-League with several Hero Indian Super League players finding their names on the scoresheet. Defending champions and league leaders Mohun Bagan maintained their undefeated start to the season by playing out a 1-1 draw against Sporting Clube de Goa at the Fatorda Stadium on Thursday. The game saw the Mariners take the lead through a Brandon Fernandes (Mumbai City FC) strike before a Raju Gaikwad (FC Goa) own goal resulted in both sides taking a point each.Bitter-rivals East Bengal, on the other hand, had a week to forget as they lost back-to-back away matches against Salgaocar FC and DSK Shivajians on Thursday and Sunday respectively. The Gold and Red Brigade lost 3-1 to Salgoacar courtesy of a Thongkhosiem Haokip (FC Goa) brace and then went on to lose 2-0 at Pune against DSK Shivajians.East Bengal’s losses turned out to be Bengaluru FC’s gain as the Blues went on to capture four points out of a possible six this week to lift themselves into second spot. Their 2-0 win against Aizawl FC at the Indira Gandhi Stadium propelled them into second place before a Sunil Chhetri (Mumbai City FC) brace in a 2-2 draw against Sporting Clube de Goa took them level on points with Mohun Bagan.Meanwhile, Mumbai FC also featured in consecutive 2-2 draws this week against Aizawl FC and Salgaocar FC. The 2-2 tie against Salgaocar FC witnessed Jackichand Singh (FC Pune City) score the opener for the Goan outfit and Seityasen Singh (NorthEast United FC) get Mumbai FC’s equaliser and their first of the night.Mohun Bagan are now tied on 22 points with Bengaluru FC having played one game fewer than the Blues (11). East Bengal lie third with 17 points from 10 matches. Sporting Clube de Goa and Mumbai FC’s outings this week put them in fourth and fifth spots on 14 and 12 points respectively, while the relegation battles heats up as Aizawl FC, Salgaocar FC and DSK Shivajians all sit at the bottom of the table with nine points each.
