PUNE: Thanks to the solitary goal of the match, scored in the 85th minute by Laldanmawia Ralte, Aizawl FC stole maximum from Pune to leapfrog Kingfisher East Bengal at the top.
Khalid Jamil’s side had to dig deep to finally get the better of the home team, who could have scored a late equaliser but Lalrinzuala’s profligacy in front of the goal cost them a vital point at home.
DSK Shivajians, without a win in their last 5 matches in the ongoing Hero I-League, made three changes to the side which faced Chennai City in the last game week. At the back, Serbian Sasa Kolunija replaced Ricky Lallawmawma; while under-22 player Jerry Lalrinzuala was introduced from the start along with Ongnam Milan Singh.
The visitors’ manager Khalid Jamil made no changes to his starting line-up from the side’s 2-0 win against Mumbai FC at home last time.
Aizawl started the game with good intensity, pushing DSK Shivajians on the backfoot early on; but lacked penetration in their passing around the opposition’s 18-yard-box. While Shivajians looked threatening, particularly down the left flank, from where the side’s first real chance came as Narzary’s header was pushed away by Gomes.
Although the hosts had a variety of good chances to take the lead in the half, they failed to act sharply and failed to bring precision in the final third of the field.
DSK Shivajians, slowly and steadily, began to take matters into their hand and as the half-hour mark passed, they began to take control of the proceedings. Narzary looked in good spirit and seemed to have been central to the host’s gameplay as an attacking outlet, but they faltered in the final third.
Past the half-hour mark, Biaklian Paite’s failed to find the back of an open net, to leave him red faced on 31 minutes. As the match reached the close the first half, a series of attempts were cleared off by Gomes in goal for Aizawl, who denied DSK from taking the lead and kept his team in the match.
As the proceedings unfurled in the second half, the home team continued to display their attacking flair with much superiority in their gameplay continuing with the moment from the first-45 minutes.
With neither side making any real changes in the final third, both managers decided to bring on pairs of fresh legs in the final twenty minutes at the Balewadi Stadium.
Eventually, against the run of play Laldanmawia Ralte broke the deadlock in the 85th minute, courtesy of some neat build-up play down the left flank, which cleared the path of Ralte for an easy tap-in to get the better of Subrata ‘Spiderman’ Paul.
With the immaculate win, Aizawl FC (29) go two points clear of Kingfisher East Bengal (27) at the top while DSK Shivajians continue to lurch at the seventh spot with 11 points from 13 matches.
Lajong beat Minerva Punjab 2-1
Meanwhile, Shillong Lajong bettered their records on the road as they overcame the Minerva Punjab FC barrier by 2-1 at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Tuesday.
Samuel Lalmuanpuia (27′) opened the scoreline for the visitors where Karim Nurain (36′) drew parity on the scorecard nine minutes later. Fabio Pena (45′) pulled another for the Highlanders at the stroke of the half-time which eventually made the difference between the two teams.
Minerva Punjab FC started upbeat after their narrow defeat to the reigning champions in the last game week, started to enjoy the lion’s share of possession during the first phase of the match with their revamped lineup featuring gaffer Kareem as a striker.
Three minutes before the half-hour mark, Samuel drew the first blood for the visitors. Within 10 minutes, Minerva striker Kareem Nurain stunned the high-flying visitors with a sublime spot-kick to level the scoreline.
Eventually, Lajong’s Brazilian striker Fabio Pena struck again to leave the ground having a bleak edge over the hosts.
In the second half, Lajong started to attack in numbers utilising both their flanks. Fabio Pena played a vital role in organising the attacking strength of the visitors.
Kaith played a tremendous game under the posts earning his team invaluable three points. Minerva came close to scoring from Kareem’s shot but his effort was blocked by Lajong’s resilient backline.
Kinowaki had a thoroughly clean game with sublime control and balance to help his players organise in defence as well as in attack. Towards the end, Lajong hit the gas and Minerva box was flooded by a plethora of attacking moves by the visitors. Arnab Das came off his lines to snatch the ball from Yuta’s feet only to earn a booking, second for the hosts tonight.
With the win, Lajong sneak into the top four with 19 points from 12 outings whereas Minerva Punjab FC plunge to the eighth spot having gathered eight points less from as many matches.
Before the International break, Minerva FC host league leaders Aizawl FC at the Guru Nanak stadium on March 11 and Lajong will travel to Goa to clash their swords with Churchill Brothers FC Goa on the next day.
