Chirag seek to maintain momentum against Sporting

High on confidence, Chirag United would seek to keep their winning momentum going when they meet depleted Sporting Clube De Goa on Monday at Nehru stadium, Margao, in the sixth round match of the I-League.

With three wins and two draws, Chirag United are sitting pretty atop the table alongside Dempo with 11 points each and are looking to keep their unbeaten run intact against the Goan side who are at the bottom with one point from four matches.

Chirag's coach Subroto Bhattacharya will be looking on their Brazilian trio strikers - Edmislon Marques, Joshimar and defender Edward for victory.

"Sporting is a good side who are struggling to find their form. We cannot underestimate them but have to remain more vigilant and focus as they will be come hard on us in search of their first victory," stated Bhattacharya.

Sporting finished third last season but things are not gong well for Coach Roy Barreto's side as they have managed just one point from their first three games. Against Pune FC, they took a 2-1 lead into half time but failed to hold on to that and against Salgaocar, they opened the scoring but squandered away the match.

Much will depend on the Nigerian striking partnership of Elijah Obagbemiro junior and Nathaniel Adisa Amos who have not lived up to the expectation. The midfield in the absence of Wilton Gomes has not delivered.

"We lost our first and the third games due to substitutions and the draw in the second game was because of goalkeeping errors. Now, it's time to revise our strategy," said club owner Peter Vaz.

Sporting have seen a lot of the ball but haven't been able to convert their chances as they haven't been incisive enough.

"We had more of the possession in the three matches but our goalkeeper made mistakes which saw us lose points," stated Vaz.