SHILLONG: Rangdajied United FC came from a goal behind to humble Mumbai Tigers 3-1 in their 2nd division I-League final round match, here at Bangalore Football Stadium on Saturday.
With this win, Rangdajied have collected four points from three outings so far.
The match did not start the way the Shillong club would have wanted, with Rangdajied conceding in the very first minute when NP Pardeep’s salvo from the danger arc found the back of the net.
The Shillong boys then controlled the game and in the 36th minute Shin Hojun’s shot rebounded off the bar and Babatunde Ayomide, who was following the ball, placed it into the net but referee Arun Pillai called an offside.
Rangdajied kept their momentum up and equalised in the 42nd minute of the game when Banshari Sunn shot from 35 yards and found the target.
In the 51st minute Abocha Singh, after receiving the ball from Babatunde at the right flank, took a shot that gave the lead to the Shillong team.
Korean striker Shin Hojun, in the 80th minute, consolidated the team’s position, scoring the third goal from inside the box.
Rangdajied could have possibly won the game by a larger margin, for as many as six shots rebounded off the bar.
The referee also disallowed a penalty kick in the second half when Mumbai’s defender handled the ball inside the box.
Even after this win, Rangdajied remain in fourth place out of the six teams in contention, but the three points from this victory give their campaign to qualify for the top tier of Indian football next season a massive shot in the arm.
The Tigers are in second spot; they won their previous two matches without even conceding a single goal.
Langsning in trouble
Meanwhile, fellow Shillong-based club, Langsning FC, earned their first point of the final round after drawing with Bhawanipore FC in a high-scoring encounter 3-3 on Friday.
A stoppage time goal by Victor Shadap helped Langsning to come from behind to open their account in the points table.
They have one point in their kitty from three matches and are now fifth, ahead of Southern Samity (who also have one point) on goal difference.
It was the Kolkata side who broke the deadlock early on in the game when Hudson Lima Silva’s shot from just outside the box penetrated the net in the seventh minute.
Langsning did not take this blow lying down, however, and bounced back within four minutes after Yinka Joel Sunday’s free kick from 30 yards found the back of the net in the 11th minute of the game.
In the 25th minute the Jose Ramirez Baretto-led team sturck back once again when Mohammad Yosef Masuriqi slotted home Abinash Rudia’s cross.
The remaining minutes of the first half could not see either team score again and the session ended 2-1 against the Shillong club.
Changing over, Langsning came out charged up and were raiding their rivals’ goalmouth several times their opponents added another goal to their tally in the 69th minute of the game when substitute Jagannath Sana’s powerful shot in the danger arc found the back of the net from the far post.
Seeing the pressure built up by Langsning, Bhawanipore’s coach Juliano Fontana replaced striker and goal-scorer Hudson Lima Silva with defender Amit Singha Roy.
In the 72nd minute of the game Moirangthem Ashok Singh put the ball into the net but his celebration was cut short as he was caught off side.
Had the first attempt by Marlangki Suting found the back of the net the story could have been different.
However, keeping up the fighting mood, Langsning reduced the margin in the 75th minute when skipper Daniel Bidemi tapped in the ball after Ayeni had set the ball up.
It was in the last part of four minutes of stoppage time that Shadap’s powerful shot from the box penetrated into the net equalising the match 3-3 and ensuring that Langsning came away with one point.