Gameweek 2 of the Hero I-League saw a shift in the standings as Royal Wahingdoh FC climbed to the top of the table, winning their second game in a row. This week’s action saw only four games with three wins and one draw. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have a game in hand as they play each other in the Kolkata Derby on February 11. This week also marked the debut of Pune-based club Bharat FC that includes a number of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) stars. Arindam Bhattacharya, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Mehrajuddin Wadoo (all three from FC Pune City), Gouramangi Singh (Chennaiyin FC), Steven Dias (Delhi Dynamos FC) and Subhash Singh (Mumbai City FC) took the field for the new entrants.Shillong Lajong registered their first win of the season as they beat Mumbai FC 1-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Meghalaya. Boithang Haokip (NorthEast United FC) stole the show with a goal from a free-kick. Stepping up in the 58th minute, Haokip put the ball into the back of the net from a free-kick awarded a few yards outside the box. The north-eastern side looked brighter throughout the game against the team from the west as they won their first game of the campaign.At the Fatorda Stadium in Goa, Royal Wahingdoh beat local side Salgaocar 1-0 and propelled themselves to the top of the table with six points. Jackichand Singh took advantage of a defensive error as he calmly put the ball past Salgaocar goalkeeper Subrata Paul (Mumbai City FC) despite the latter getting his fingers to the ball. Jackichand Singh’s 7th minute effort was good enough for Wahingdoh against a rather subdued opponent.Debutants Bharat FC took on an injury-ridden Dempo side with Tolgay Özbey and Romeo Fernandes (both FC Goa) missing for the away side. The game that was played at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune ended as a 0-0 draw. Francis Fernandes (Delhi Dynamos FC) looked threatening for the away team with a couple of menacing runs. But it was Arindam Bhattacharya who put in a sublime performance in goal for Bharat FC, ensuring they took at least one point from the game as he kept a clean sheet in his first Hero I-League appearance this season. The goalkeeper was awarded the Hero of the Match while his FC Pune City and current teammate Ravanan too put in an excellent shift.In a shock defeat, defending champions Bengaluru FC were brushed aside by Pune FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. The away side won 3-1 with Darko Nikac, Luciano Sobrosa and Thongkhosiem Haokip on target for Pune. Eugeneson Lyngdoh got a consolation goal for Bengaluru in the 89th minute but that wasn’t enough for the home team who had skipper Sunil Chhetri starting from the bench. Edgar Marcelino (FC Goa) made his debut for Pune FC with an assist as he provided the delivery that led to Sobrosa’s headed goal.
