Day 1 of the Next Generation Cup featured all three Reliance Foundation Development League teams as they took the much fancier English Premier League opponents and while none of the Indian teams managed to register a win on a bright and sunny day at the Aston Villa FC Training Ground in Bodymoor Heath, Tamworth on Thursday, there was enough gumption shown by all the Indians clubs that should keep them in good stead going forward in the competition.
Punjab FC, taking on the home team Aston Villa at the Academy grounds showed good composure and fighting spirit to eke out two goals and nearly ran Aston Villa boys close, while Muthoot FA were plucky all through their encounter against Everton FC – holding them off till the first half, eventually losing the tie 0-1. In the evening fixture, East Bengal FC were pushed hard by the pacy Crystal Place boys, but they too did not whittle under pressure and conceded only one goal, losing the 50-minute-long tie 0-1.
The best team on the park for India were RFDL 2023-24 champions Punjab FC, who were confident against the much superior Aston Villa despite finding themselves a goal behind as early as the 12th minute. Forward Rory Wilson found the net in the 12th minute of the match.
For Punjab FC, Omang Dodum was the star player on the field finding space against the towering Aston Villa defence and fittingly found the back of the net in the 22nd minute, collecting a ball on the run in the left flank. Wilson doubled his tally with a 33rd-minute strike and Travis Patterson and Mason Cotcher joined hands at the 40th-minute mark to add another goal to Aston Villa FC’s tally.
Even as fatigue was visibly setting in, Punjab FC with rolling substations continued to press forward and stuck in the counter-attack with India U-20 player No. 10 Manglenthang Kipgen striking from a few yards away from the left flank a minute later to cut the deficit. Villa though managed to hold off for the remaining eight minutes.
“We need to focus more on tactical decisions. We were intact for large portions but lost concentration for a bit and conceded the easiest of goals. We were having a good run of chances, but couldn’t capitalise on that and an unwanted error resulted in us going 1-0 down. The players are high on confidence but we need to address a bit in the execution part of things. We are lacking a bit of instinct and this is the best possible platform for us to work on things and learn a lot going forward,” Punjab FC coach Sankarlal Chakraborty said.
Brief Scores: Aston Villa FC 3 (Rory Wilson 12’ 33’, Mason Cotcher 40’) – 2 Punjab FC (Omang Dodum 22’, Manglenthang Kipgen 41’)
Plucky Muthoot FA
The third-place winners of the RFDL 2023-24 were neatly organised at the back and didn’t offer their Premier League opponents many clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities in the opening half of the contest. Eventually, it took a concerted team effort on their behalf to break through the Muthoot FA backline. Jacob Beaumont-Clark pierced through the defence of the Indian side with a dazzling run through the centre. He released the ball to an onrushing Callum Bales on the right flank.
Bales received the ball with a deft first touch, before setting up Kean Wren with a squared-up pass that the latter comfortably tapped in to break the deadlock after a gripping passage of play.
“It was a tough game. It was a different challenge for our lads to play against well-organised opponents. I am hoping that they learn something from it and it definitely came across as a big challenge for us. Muthoot FA came in with a clear idea of how they might get success out of this game. They’ve got a good idea of when they have the ball, and what they would want to do in those moments. We don’t always get to practice in such situations, which is good for our lads and for the overall development of players,” Everton FC coach Leighton Baines said after the game.
Brief Scores: Everton FC 1 (Kean Wren 34’) – 0 Muthoot FA
East Bengal FC faced Crystal Palace today and suffered a close 1-0 loss in regulation time and then again in the penalty shootout (2-4). The teams in the Next Generation Cup will face off in a penalty shootout at the end of the match regardless of the full-time score. The team that wins the game in regulation will receive 3 points for their victory and the winner of the penalty shootout earns a bonus point.
Crystal Palace FC outpace East Bengal
Finley Marjoram of Crystal Palace FC scored in the 24th minute and gave his team the lead entering into half-time. However, the East Bengal FC players held their nerves and refused to concede another goal. Despite the loss, the East Bengal FC coach was happy with their performance. East Bengal FC coach Bino George praised his players for their immaculate defence.
Crystal Palace coach Rob Quinn spoke about the East Bengal FC players after the game, saying “I can tell they’re well coached, they’re well disciplined in their roles, which is credit obviously to the staff and the work of the teams, they made it tough for us. There wasn’t a lot of space for us to play, trying to play between the lines and we had to be patient and yeah, it was a hard game.”
Brief Scores: Crystal Palace FC 1 (Finley Marjoram 24’) – 0 East Bengal FC
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