Lajong leap to fifth after victory in Kolkata
SHILLONG: Shillong Lajong edged past Mohammedan Sporting in an incredible nine-goal thriller as the North East club won 5-4 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
A first I-League hat-trick for Trinidadian striker Cornell Glen and a brace by Subash Singh came to the rescue for the Reds.
Glen is now the joint top scorer of the season with 13 goals along with Bengaluru FC’s Sunil Chhetri. The ever-quick Subash, for his part, scored for the first time since his lone goal of the year on December 6 against Salgaocar at home.
Hosts Mohammedan took the early lead through Ashim Biswas just five minutes into the game, but they were reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Luis Barreto was shown a straight red for bringing down Boithang Haokip in the box.
Glen successfully converted the penalty in the 16th minute to bring Lajong level and Subash then put the visitors in front just short of half an hour’s play.
Penn Orji equalised for the Kolkata club in the 34th minute but Glen restored Lajong’s tenuous lead just before the interval.
The see-saw action continued in the second session with Josimar making it 3-3 early on even as Luciano Sabrosa wasted a penalty for Mohammedan Sporting.
That proved to be a crucial miss as further goals from Subash and Glen gave the away side a two-goal advantage.
Josimar completed his brace to bring Mohammedan back into the game, but Lajong held on for a memorable 5-4 victory.
The result puts the relegation-threatened Black Panthers in deep trouble now as their points tally remains at 21 from 23 matches and they only have one more fixture remaining.
The Kolkata club now need to beat Mumbai FC on April 27 in Pune while also hoping that Lajong outwit fellow Shillong side Rangdajied United FC in the derby on April 21, which would put both teams on 24 points. Mohammedan would then go through based on a better head-to-head record.
Meanwhile, SLFC have ensured that they will end the season no lower than seventh position.
They have moved up to fifth with Wednesday’s victory, claiming 32 points with two games to play (Rangdajjied on April 21 and Mohun Bagan on April 27).
Even if the remaining fixtures go against them, they can only be overtaken in the standings by Dempo SC and Pune FC. Seventh position, according to coach Thangboi Singto, was the Reds’ goal at the beginning of the season.
Mohammedan were looking to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season and they had the best possible start as Ashim headed home Basanta Singh’s cross.
Barreto’s sending off gave Lajong the numerical advantage and that left plenty of spaces for them to exploit. The visitors went in front for the first time when Subash headed Uilliams Souza Silva’s cross into the back of the net.
Mohammedan hit back immediately as Orji slotted the ball past Lajong custodian Lalthuammawia Ralte after some fine work by Josimar.
It was end-to-end action for the remainder of the first half and Lajong took the lead again when Glen produced a classy finish after getting away from his marker.
Sanjoy Sen’s side restored parity just two minutes after the restart as Josimar latched on to a long ball from the back and scored with a powerful finish.
At the hour mark, the Kolkatans were awarded a penalty when substitute C Lallawmzuala fouled Josimar inside the box. Unfortunately for the Durand Cup and IFA Shield champions, however, Sabrosa’s spot kick was saved by Ralte.
The penalty miss proved to be costly as Lajong regained their lead after a well-worked set piece. Minchol Son flicked on Uilliams’ free kick for Subash, who volleyed home his second of the game. A few minutes later Glen completed his hat-trick by scoring from a Uilliams’ corner.
Josimar gave Mohammedan hope by pulling one back but the hosts could not score any further and suffered a damaging defeat.
