Shillong/Chennai: Churchill Brothers and Shillong Lajong played out a goalless draw in Tilak Maidan, Goa in the Hero I-League encounter on Sunday.
Churchill Brothers started the first half very well with many chances created in front of goal. The host earned their first shot on target in the 2nd minute through Chesterpaul Lyngdoh but his shot was blocked comfortably by Lajong custodian Vishal Kaith. The first half saw few corners in favour of both sides but neither could convert.
In the 11th minute, Churchill had the best chance to take the lead when A. Wolfe found space inside the box to let fly a shot which eventually hit the post and the rebound was met by Kromah who tried to place it back inside goal but Vishal was heroic in coming back to his line and clearing it away.
Even though Lajong did not create as many chances as the host, Fabio and Dipanda Dicka worked hard and combined well on few occasions but could not find the net. The set pieces for Lajong in the first half were not clinical enough to trouble Churchill.
Churchill Brothers player, Brandon, took a shot on target from long range in the 29th minute but Vishal parried the shot onto the bar to subsequently collect it after the rebound. It wasn’t a great first half for Lajong but the score remained goalless in the first half.
In the second half however, Lajong were clearly the more dominant side. The team talk in the break seemed to change the visiting team as they created numerous chances in front of goal.
Dipanda Dicka had two golden opportunities in the second half to give his side the lead but lacked the clinical touch to find the net.
Samuel Shadap provided a good ball inside the box in the 62nd minute to find Dipanda but his shot after a turn failed to beat the defender near the goal line. Churchill had one chance in the 66th minute after a corner was met by Adil Khan’s header but the ball went just wide of the post.
Fabio too was denied a goal in the 66th minute after his header from Isaac’s cross was tipped over by Churchill’s Goalkeeper.
The best chance of the match came to Dipanda Dicka of Lajong in the 80th minute after the ball went past two Churchill defenders but Lajong’s goal scoring machine took too much time on the ball and his eventual shot was deflected away by the keeper.
The match ended goalless and goalkeeper Vishal Kaith of Shillong Lajong was awarded the Hero of the Match for his brilliant saves.
Lajong remain on 4th position in the table with 20 points from 13 matches played. The I-league goes into a short break and Lajong will play their next match on April 8 in Pune against DSK Shivajians.
Chennai stun East Bengal
Meanwhile, East Bengal’s title hopes suffered a jolt after the Kolkata giants suffered a shock 1-2 defeat against minnows Chennai City FC in a 14th round I-League encounter on Sunday.
The loss meant that Aizawl FC with 30 points from 14 games are at pole position while East Bengal with 27 points remain second. Mohun Bagan are on 23 points having played only 12 games. The win also helped Chennai City earn some breathing space with 13 points from 14 games now. They are currently 8th in the 10-team table. It was K Prasanth’s opportunistic strike in the second minute of stoppage time that sealed it in favour of local team.
This was a come-from-behind win for Chennai City who equalised in the 57th minute through S Nandhakumar. East Bengal’s foreign recruit Willis Plaza struck in the 42nd minute.
