Gameweek 9 in the 2019/20 Premier League season was characterized by low scores, major upsets, dramatic last minute goals, VAR controversy and, of course, exciting developments in the title race. Follow along as we review each and every result of this week’s action.
Continue reading “EPL: Gameweek 9 Review”NBA Southwest Division Preview 2019/20
The NBA season is set to start in a few days and I want to rank and discuss the prospects of each team in each division. We’ll be doing a countdown of each division with our predicted number of wins, expectations from them and playoff predictions. Today we head to the Atlantic Division
We will countdown our top picks from the Southwest Division down below-
Continue reading “NBA Southwest Division Preview 2019/20”EPL: Gameweek 9 Preview
The Premier League finally returns this Saturday (October 17th) after the recent international break, with Gameweek 9.
The much awaited Gameweek will feature 8 Saturday fixtures followed by a game each on Sunday and Monday night.
Continue reading “EPL: Gameweek 9 Preview”NBA Atlantic Division Preview 2019/20
The NBA season is set to start in a few days and I want to rank and discuss the prospects of each team in each division. We’ll be doing a countdown of each division with our predicted number of wins, expectations from them and playoff predictions. Today we head to the Atlantic Division.
EC will refer to Eastern Conference
We will countdown our top picks from the Atlantic Division down below-
Continue reading “NBA Atlantic Division Preview 2019/20”NBA Pacific Division Preview 2019/20
The NBA season is set to start in a few days and I want to rank and discuss the prospects of each team in each division. We’ll be doing a countdown of each division with our predicted number of wins, expectations from them and playoff predictions.
WC will refer to Western Conference
Pac Div will refer to Pacific Division
Continue reading “NBA Pacific Division Preview 2019/20”Bangla Tigers Tear Indian World Cup Dreams Apart
India received a huge set back to their 2022 Qatar world cup qualifying hopes on Tuesday ( October 5th 2019) when they drew 1-1 to Bangladesh at home, in the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. It was an overall disappointing display from the Blue Tigers in a game they really should have dominated and were only saved from the jaws of defeat through a last gasp equalizer from Adil Khan. Indian head coach, Igor Štimac, and all the Indian supporters were hoping for a solid 3 points but were ultimately relieved to accept the solitary point.
The game started off poorly for the home team. Bangladesh were happy to sit back and defend while the Indians had a hard time finding a way through. The first half was characterized with silly mistakes and defensive errors from the home side, allowing the opponents to settle in and solidify their defensive shape. India’s repeated efforts to breakthrough the Bangladeshi defense with aerial balls were futile and their poor passing made the defending teams’ job a lot easier. However, there were a few good attempts on goal from the Indian side, including a backwards header from Manvir Singh in the 34th minute that was brilliantly clawed over the post by Ashraful Rana, the Bangladeshi net minder. The visitors eventually added to India’s woeful first half through a headed goal from Saad Uddin in the 42nd minute. The goal came from a free kick, cheaply given away near the sideline by Rahul Bheke. A cross was floated in to the back post from the free kick, which was misjudged by Gurpreet who came out and took out his own defender instead of the ball, allowing Saad to head home into an open goal.
The second half was much more eventful compared to the opening period. The Blue Tigers were lucky to get away without conceding a goal early in the second half when Mohammed Ziban’s 1 on 1 attempt was saved by Gurpreet and again when Mohammed Ibrahim’s cross beat the keeper and struck the crossbar. This was immediately followed up by a chance at the other end for India, in the 60th minute, but Anas Edathodika’s header was heroically turned away on the goal line by Biplu Ahmed. In the 73rd minute, it was Bangladesh’s turn see their efforts denied inches away from the goal line when Adil Shah redeemed his poor first half performance with a fine goal line clearance on Ibrahim’s looping shot. Finally, after the 80th minute, India moved on from their long ball tactic and began to make quick ground passes in their attacking third. The change in tactic was rewarded with a late equaliser from Adil Khan in the 89th minute, when he buried a header into the Bangladeshi net from a perfect corner taken by Brandon Fernandes, who came on as a substitute. Bangladesh managed to hold on to a stale mate during the 5 minutes of added time resulting in a famous away performance from them and causing a potential end to India’s world cup qualifying dreams.
Sandhesh Jinghan, the Indian central defender who missed the game through injury, was badly missed and Adil Khan agreed to the same in his post match interview. India remain in 4th place with 2 pts in Group E of Asian World Cup Qualifying. Qatar, Oman and Afghanistan are above them with 7, 6 and 3 pts respectively and Bangladesh stay last with 1 pt. Only a miracle can take India to the third round of qualification now.
The Expert and The Idiot 