I-League: East Bengal down Salgaocar 2-1
Shillong/ KOLKATA: DSK Shivajians cancelled out Lajong’s lead to make it 1-1 in their Hero I-League encounter at the Balewadi Stadium, Pune on Sunday.
Thangboi Singto made two changes to the starting line up from the previous match as Boithang Haokip played midfield in place of Jacob while youngster Samuel Lalmuanpuia came in place of Fabio Henrique.
Lajong were quick to take the lead in the 3rd minute when Uilliams received the ball outside the box from Penn Orji and turned the defender to place the ball past the keeper low towards the side netting. It was a brilliant start for Lajong who were the visiting team.
Uilliams could have scored a hat trick as he was provided couple of great opportunities in front of goal within 5 minutes after the first goal was scored. DSK Shivajans started to find some rhythm in the match and were keeping possession of the ball with a slow and steady pace.
The home team attacked Lajong and were controlling majority of the game as the match progressed. Lajong defended well and were attacking DSK on the counter with good pace from midfield to the forwards.
DSK showed more urgency than the first half as they pressed towards the Lajong half and applied a lot of pressure on Lajong. DSK created a lot of opportunities from the left wing courtesy Sena Ralte and Baljit Sahini. DSK almost equalised in the 57th minute when a free kick taken from the left was met by a header which hit the cross bar and eventually cleared the defence.
The attacking play by DSK was finally rewarded in the 61st minute after a cross from the left by Ralte was headed towards goal by Dipanda Dica for the equaliser. In the end, both teams had to settle for a draw after failing to find the winning goal in the second half. With this draw, Lajong are in the 5th position with 10 points from 8 matches played while DSK are at the bottom with just 5 points.
Lajong will travel back home after playing 4 consecutive away matches and host DSK in the reverse fixture on February 26 in Shillong.
(IANS adds) Meanwhile, Kolkata giants East Bengal edged past Goan outfit Salgaocar 2-1 in an I-League encounter at the Barasat stadium here on Sunday.
The win has propelled the red and gold brigade to the second spot on the points table with 17 points from eight games, while from the same number of outings, Salgaocar have only five points and are second from bottom of the table.
Mohammed Rafique (38th minute) broke the deadlock for East Bengal. But then Darryl Duffy in the second half (65th minute) restored parity for the visitors. It was however, Bello Rasaq who headed in the winner for East Bengal in the 83rd minute of the contest.
Rafique was set up by midfielder Mehtab Hossain who played a delightful ball to the striker. The Indian forward then skipped past Brian Mascarenhas and guided the ball past a diving Karanjit Singh and into the back of the net.
Just when it looked like the game was heading for stalemate Nigerian defender Rasaq, unmarked in the box headed home a Sanju Pradhan corner to give his side a one-goal advantage which East Bengal held onto till the final whistle.