Brazilian Fabio Pena strikes as Reds beat Salgaocar 1-0
SHILLONG: Shillong Lajong FC scored their first goal and in the process registered the first win of the current I-League season beating Goan rivals Salgaocar FC 1-0 at the JN Stadium here on Thursday.
Brazilian Fabio Pena netted brilliantly to set things rolling for the hosts. Salgaocar, meanwhile, crumbled to their fourth defeat on the trot and have a thing or two to worry about as they move on in the league.
It was the sheer brilliance of Fabio Pena who struck gold for the hosts right after the second half (48′) but Salgaocar would rather blame themselves for the defeat for they squandered at least two genuine chances to make an impression on the scoreboard.
In the end it was a well deserved win for the hosts who put up a more concerted and effort to register their first win of the season.
The hosts made two changes to the side that lost 3-0 to Bengaluru FC with Tamang and Pritam Singh making way for Samuel Shadap and Yusuke Yamagata.
Meanwhile, the Goan outfit made three changes as Augustin Fernandes, Keenan Almeida and Calvin Mbarga were replaced by Reagan Singh, Saran Singh and Nicolau Colaco.
Earlier, both sides had their share of chances in the first half. The Royal Wahingdoh pair of Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh was into business early on with both working in tandem to put pressure on the Reds. The duo created a chance as early as the 6th minute but Seitya was unable to register a perfect finish with his frail header going wide on the right.
The first real chance of the game came Salgaocar’s way in the 10th minute when Duffy made a mess of a good ball upfront. With only Vishal Kaith to beat Duffy chose to go for a lofted shot from close range which landed on the top of the nets.
Lajong had a chance to convert 10 minutes later when a Fabio Pena shot went wide on the left.
At the stroke of half hour, Salgaocar threatened again. This time a Saran Singh cross from the edge on the left went just wide of the nets on far right.
Crossing over, Lajong went ahead even before their unsuspecting rivals could settle down. Fed well at goal mouth a brilliant Fabio Pena sent in a firm right footer as he lay almost flat sideways to get Lajong their first goal of the I-League this season.
Salgaocar missed a great chance to equalise when Jacki set up Duffy brilliantly upfront. The latter only needed to get a deft touch to the ball inside the box but was unable to reach it.
However, the best chance of the day went begging for Salgaocar when a Gilbert Oliveira shot, which looked destined for the back of the net hit the post in the 70th minute.
It was all over for Salgaocar from here on as Lajong looked to consolidate their lead and almost succeeded in doing so. Bipin Singh managed to direct his header from close range off target in the 87th minute before Penn Orji’s shot from distance forced Karanjit into a save.
Deep into stoppage time, the away team’s custodian had another opportunity to shine. Fabio’s header right in front of the goal was somehow kept out by an acrobatic Karanjit save.
At the end of the tie Lajong moved to 4 points from three matches while Salgaocar were yet to open their account.