Hyderabad, Feb 18: Sreenidi Deccan had to dig deep to earn full points with a 3-1 win against wooden-spooners Sudeva Delhi FC in the I-League here on Sunday.
Carlos Vaz Pinto’s men thus opened up a three-point gap at the top of the table with 40 points from 18 matches, but were trailing 0-1 for 70 minutes.
In the end, Sreenidi’s bench strength shone through. Louis Ogana came in to replace fellow Nigerian Rilwan Hassan in the 64th minute and finished as the Hero of the Match. His first goal in the 81st minute gave the hosts the lead and the second, in the 89th, sealed the match for them. It was heart-breaking for the men from Delhi because they were the better team in the opening half. The best goal was also scored by their electrifying young forward Lalbiakliana.
Gokulam Kerala moved back to third position with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Churchill Brothers in Vasco.
Gokulam rode on Farshad Noor’s first-half goal before displaying some resilient defending to pick up their second consecutive win on the road. (PTI)
