Duler (Goa): Churchill Brothers scored a resounding 6-0 win over Shillong Lajong to move to the top of the table with a two-point lead over Pune FC and Dempo in the 14th round I-League clash at Duler Stadium here on Friday.
With defending champions Dempo succumbing to Prayag United, Churchill find themselves at the top with 28 points from 11 matches, with another match in hand.
Shillong Lajong remained at 13 points from 14 matches.
Churchill, who drubbed Sporting Clube de Goa 8-4 in their last match, scored through Steven Dias, Henri Arnaud, Ajay Singh and Beto substitute Akram Moghrabi’s brace.
They found the going tough on the astro turf in the first half, but goals in a space of two minutes by Steven Dias(40th) and Henri Antchouet (42th) saw the end of the rival challenge as Churchill pumped in four more goals in the second half.
Churchill’s opening goal came in the 40th minute when a long ball from Bilal Najjarine was trapped nicely by Steven Dias and finished off coolly from inside the six yard box. Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Raju Yumnan found Henri inside the heart of the Lajong danger zone and the Gabonese striker was presented with a simple finish. Dinesh Balan, the hero in the last match, pulled a hamstring and was replaced by Ajay Singh who made it 3-0 when he brilliantly met the ball with a header off a cross from the right by Roberto Silva. Meanwhile Lajong had to bring in Jacob for Nigerian striker Friday, who picked up an injury in the 30th minute, to add to the ever-growing injury list of the Reds. Churchill substitute striker Akram Moghrabi, who replaced Henri, soon scored a brace. He headed into an open goal after being fed by Raju in the 66th minute, and in the 73rd he was in the act again, beating the offside trap.
Man of the Match Beto had the final say when his curling effort from outside the box found the top corner of the nets.
United SC stun Dempo
Big-spending United SC gave a big blow to Dempo’s title aspiration with a 1-0 upset win over the defending champions in a round 14 I-League match.
Costa Rican World Cupper Carlos Hernandez scored the all-important goal in the 89th minute to give United SC a winning start to the New Year and final phase of the I-League.
Dempo were reduced to 10 players in the 85th minute when their left back Debabrata Roy earned his second yellow card for a bad tackle to United SC midfielder Shankar Oraon. (PTI)