2018–19_Minerva_Punjab_FC_season

2018–19 Minerva Punjab FC season

2018–19 Minerva Punjab FC season

2018–19 season of Minerva Punjab F.C.

The 2018–19 Minerva Punjab FC Season was the club's third season in the I-League.

Quick Facts season, Owner ...

Sponsors

As of 16 October 2018

More information Sponsors Type, Sponsor's Name ...

Transfers

Minerva Punjab saw an exodus of top players after their I-League victory in the 2017 season. Perhaps the biggest departure that Minerva Punjab was that of Chencho Gyeltshen. The Bhutanese attacker was the stand-out performer for Minerva in 2017 and was subsequently sold to Bengaluru FC.[5] His departure left a huge gap in the Minerva squad.

Following Chencho out of the door were Kiran Chemjong, Sukhdev Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, Bali Gagandeep, Kassim Aidara, Girik Khosla, Rakshit Dagar, and Abhishek Ambekar.

Kamalpreet Singh, Gagandeep, Aidara, and Rakshit Dagar all signed for Minerva's title rivals East Bengal F.C. Sukhdev Singh and Ambekar moved on to Mohun Bagan.[6] Ahead of the 2018-19 I-League season, Minerva were left with a depleted squad.

On 6 July 2018 Minerva Punjab signed forward Yu Kuboki on a permanent transfer from Australian club Sydney Olympic FC. He had been in scintillating form for Sydney the previous season, scoring 11 goals in 22 matches as an attacking midfielder or a withdrawn striker.[7]

In August 2018 Minerva signed three players including Nigerian forward Philip Njoku.[8]

In September 2018 they signed former Ozone FC striking duo C. S. Sabeeth and Brazilian Robert De Souza.[9] They also extended contracts with defender Akashdeep Singh and striker Akash Sangwan.[10][11]

Contract extension

More information No., Position ...

In

More information No., Position ...

Out

More information No., Position ...

Squad

First-team squad

As of 28 February 2019[47]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...

Team management

Paul Munster, current Minerva Punjab technical director
As of 9 August 2018.
More information Position, Name ...

Pre-season and friendlies

Minerva Punjab kicked off their pre-season preparations by participating in the 2018 Punjab State Super Football League from 26 August 2018.[48] With 4 wins and 3 draws Minerva finished second in the league table.[49] They beat league leader FC Punjab Police in the finals to win the 32nd Punjab State Super Football League title.[50] [51]

Punjab State Super League

  Win   Draw   Loss

26 August 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Minerva Punjab 2–2 FC Punjab Police Hoshiarpur, Punjab
16:00 IST
  • Yu Kuboki 64' 89'
 Report
  • Vijay 47'
  • Sandeep 69'
2 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Kehar SC 0–4 Minerva Punjab FC Jalandhar, Punjab
16:00 IST Report
Stadium: DAV College Stadium
7 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Minerva Punjab FC 0–0[Note PSL][52][53] Dalbir FC Mohali, Punjab
16:00 IST Report Stadium: Minerva Academy ground
12 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Rail Coach Factory 0–1 Minerva Punjab FC Kapurthala, Punjab
16:00 IST Report
Stadium: RCF Stadium
15 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League CRPF SC 1–3 Minerva Punjab FC Jalandhar, Punjab
16:00 IST
  • Dolai 74'
 Report
Stadium: CRPF ground
20 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Guru Football Club 0–1 Minerva Punjab FC Jalandhar, Punjab
16:00 IST Report
  • Dilliram 82'
 Stadium: Lyallpur Khalsa College grounds
27 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Minerva Punjab FC 1–1 BSF FC Jalandhar, Punjab
16:00 IST
  • R.Negi 30'
 Report
  • Sadam 7'
 Stadium: Lyallpur Khalsa College grounds
30 September 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Semifinal Minerva Punjab FC 1–0 CRPF SC Jalandhar, Punjab
15:00 IST
Report Stadium: Dolike football stadium
3 October 2018 2018 Punjab State Super Football League Final FC Punjab Police 1–2 Minerva Punjab FC Mahilpur, Punjab
15:00 IST
  • Jaspreet 85'
 Report
Stadium: S.G.G.S. Khalsa College grounds
Notes
  1. ^
    Match abandoned at 81 minute due to bad weather conditions.The remaining 9 minutes were played on 17 September 2018.[54][52]

J&K Invitational Cup

Minerva Punjab participated in the J&K Invitational Cup organized by Real Kashmir FC. It was a knock out tournament.[55]

19 October 2018 Quarter Final Minerva Punjab FC 3–1 J&K Bank Srinagar, J&K
15:00 IST
Report
  • Prem Kumar 2'
 Stadium: TRC Turf Ground
21 October 2018 Semi Final Minerva Punjab FC 3–0 Sudeva Moonlight F.C. Srinagar, J&K
12:00 IST
Report Stadium: TRC Turf Ground
23 October 2018 Final Real Kashmir (0–0)[Note JNT] Minerva Punjab FC Srinagar, J&K
14:30 IST Report Stadium: TRC Turf Ground
Notes
  1. ^
    The prevailing situation following the death of many civilians in Kulgam blast forced the organisers of Jammu and Kashmir Invitational Cup-2018 to cancel the final and declare the finalists - Real Kashmir FC and Minerva Punjab FC as joint winners.

Friendlies

8 July 2018 1[56] Minerva Punjab FC 1-1[57]
(4–3 p)		 Indian Air Force Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, India
20:00 IST
Report
  • ? 89'
 Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium
25 September 2018 2[58] NorthEast United 1–0 Minerva Punjab FC Guwahati, Assam
15:00 IST
Report Stadium: Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium
27 September 2018 3[59] Delhi Dynamos FC 3–3 Minerva Punjab FC New Delhi
16:00 IST
Report
Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Training Pitch

Competitions

I-League

Main article: 2018–19 I-League

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void   Postponed

28 October 2018 1 Minerva Punjab FC 0–0 Churchill Brothers Panchkula, Haryana
14:00 IST Report Stadium: Tau Devi Lal Stadium
Attendance: 8,591
Referee: Umesh Bora
31 October 2018 2 Minerva Punjab FC 0–1 Real Kashmir Panchkula, Haryana
14:00 IST
  • Dilliram Sanyasi Yellow card 90+2'
 Report
Stadium: Tau Devi Lal Stadium
Attendance: 5,171
Referee: Rosario Fernandes
10 November 2018 3 Aizawl FC 1–2 Minerva Punjab FC Aizawl, Mizoram
14:00 IST
Report
  • Bala AlhassanYellow card 37'
  • Lancine Touré 10', 58'
    Yellow card 55'
 Stadium: Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
Attendance: 3,871
Referee: Raktim Shah
18 November 2018 4 Gokulam Kerala 1-0 Minerva Punjab FC Calicut, Kerala
19:30 IST
Report
Stadium: EMS Stadium
Attendance: 30,246
Referee: Senthil Nathan
23 November 2018 5 Shillong Lajong FC 2–2 Minerva Punjab FC Shillong, Meghalaya
17:00 IST Kenstar Kharshong Yellow card 23'
Phrangki Buam 24'
Allen Lyngdoh 43' Yellow card 57'		 Report W. Asiedu 45+3'
Souvik Das Yellow card 49'
Philip Njoku 75'		 Stadium: JL Nehru Stadium, Shillong
Attendance: 5,275
Referee: Pratik Mondal
1 December 2018 6 Minerva Punjab FC 1–0 Indian Arrows Panchkula, Haryana
14:00 IST T.moirangthem Yellow card 42'
Philip Njoku 74'
B.Dahir Yellow card 80'		 Report Aniket JadhavYellow card 87' Stadium: Tau Devi Lal Stadium
Attendance: 4,275
Referee: Priyobarta Singh
4 December 2018 7 East Bengal 0–1 Minerva Punjab FC Kolkata, West Bengal
17:00 IST Jhonny AcostaYellow card 73' Report W. Asiedu 75' Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium
Attendance: 16,821
Referee: Crystal John

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: I-league
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. The game between Minerva Punjab and Real Kashmir was rescheduled, but eventually it was not played and both teams were awarded a point.[60]

Results summary

More information Overall, Home ...

Source: I-League

Results by round

More information Round, Ground ...
Updated to match(es) played on 12 November 2018. Source: I-League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

2019 AFC Champions League

Main article: 2019 AFC Champions League

The AFC Champions League is the premier continental football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). As the champions of the I-League the previous season, Minerva Punjab FC earned a chance to qualify for the tournament. India did not have a direct-entry spot in the AFC Champions League and thus the champion team from India had to qualify for the tournament through the preliminary rounds. Minerva Punjab were put up against Saipa FC of Iran.

12 February 2019 (2019-02-12) PR 2 Saipa FC Iran v India Minerva Punjab FC
--:-- UTC+3:30

2019 AFC Cup

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Statistics

Goal Scorers

More information Rank, No. ...

Hat-tricks

More information Player, Against ...

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