KOLKATA: Prayag United SC climbed to third place in the I-League table with a facile 2-0 win over Shillong Lajoing FC in a penultimate round I-League fixture at the Kalyani Stadium on Friday.
All the action was confined to the first-half as United got the lead through Ranty Martins’ goal from a spot-kick in the 20th minute, while Shylo Malswamtulunga settled the issue seven minutes later. Ranty stayed as the top-scorer in the league with 25 goals.
United SC with 41 points from 25 matches pipped Pune FC to be behind league leaders Churchill Brothers and East Bengal, while the Shillong outfit remained at 10th with 25 points from as many matches.
Pune FC though, have, four more matches left in the competition.
Both the teams wasted chances in the first 10 minutes. The Reds started the match on a promising note, with their first chance coming just few seconds from kick off when Edinho Junior lobbed the ball beyond the goal, after receiving a pass from Boithang Haokip. Just minutes later, Edinho had another one-on-one with Subrata Pal, but ended up allowing Deepak Mondal to make a clearance.
However, Lajong conceded a penalty when goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte brought down Kayne Vincent inside the box in the 17th minute.
Ranty converted the spotkick without much fuss to give them a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, Ranty set it up for Vincent who made a run behind the defence and made a square pass to Malswamtulunga who slotted it into an empty net.
Both the teams had some fine chances in the second-half but the goalkeepers, Subrata Paul of United SC and Ralte of Lajong, stood out under the bar.
Paul thwarted a brilliant effort from substitute Kamimura diving to his left in the 65th minute while Ralte made a superb save of Ranty in the 70th minute.
Salgaocar take on Pailan
On a high after their 9-0 rout of United Sikkim, former champions Salgaocar will look to continue their winning momentum when they face minnows Pailan Arrows in a penultimate round fixture of the I-League at the Kalyani Stadium here on Saturday.
Salgaocar have remained unbeaten in the last six rounds where they picked up five wins and a draw to rise to the seventh spot in the standings with 30 points from 24 matches.
The Goans have no injury problems and under captain Luciano Sabrosa they will look to play as a unit, Salgaocar coach Peter Vales said.
Vales however was in no mood to underestimate their opponents, the AIFF developmental outfit who play without foreigners.
“Pailan Arrows are a young and fighting side. They play as a cohesive unit as it was evident in the way they beat Dempo (2-0) couple of matches ago,” he said.
In the Arrows camp, chief coach Arthur Papas is on leave giving deputy Aaron Symons the task of guiding the side in the final leg of the I-League.
“We will be following the system and form put in place by Arthur (Papas) and the boys are talented enough to understand what will be their task against the opponents,” Symons said. (PTI)