Chirag rise to 2nd after Lajong win
Chirag United 2
LAJONG FC 0
Viva Kerala 1
Mumbai FC 0
AGE CORRESPONDENTs
KOLKATA/Mumbai
Feb. 3: Josimaar Da Silva’s brace guided Chirag United to a 2-0 win over Lajong FC and earned the hosts valuable points from their I-League Round 13 encounter here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.
The win takes Chirag to second place on the table with 23 points. Lajong, on the other hand, are now in serious relegation trouble as they have slipped to 13th in the standings, placed only above Sporting Clube de Goa. The Shillong-based unit weren’t as bad as the scoreline suggests and appeared the better side in the first half especially during the counter-attacks that kept the Chirag defenders on their toes. The Lajong backline too gave very little room to their opposition.
However, in the second half their defence crumbled under constant pressure from Chirag, who finally hit their stride after coach Subrata Bhattacharya brought in Narugopal Hait for sideback Rahul Kumar. In the 60 minute, the move paid off as Hait churned out an accurate pass to Josimaar, who calmly slotted the ball home past Lajong custodian Gumpe Rime. Ten minutes later, there was further agony for the visitors as a powerful header from Josimaar off Edmilson Marques’ cross found the back of the net.
Meanwhile, Viva Kerala ended Mumbai FC’s 10-match unbeaten run defeating them 1-0 in their I-League Round 13 tie at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Mumbai FC started the match aggressively and even won some early corners but failed to make the most of their chances. In the seventh minute Evans Quao almost put the hosts ahead but his strike hit the bar.
Abhishek Yadav had a golden opportunity to give Mumbai FC the lead in the 38th minute when a through ball by Evans released him but the lanky striker’s attempt was saved by the Viva custodian.
Two minute before half-time Anish K.P. put the visitors ahead, heading a freekick by skipper M.P. Sakeer lobbed towards him from inside the box by C. Sirajudeen into the back of the net. Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil brought in John Coutinho to replace an ineffective Surojit Roy at the start of the second session.
Two minutes after the break, Mumbai FC could have equalised through Bashiru Abbas, who hit a wayward shot from inside the box after Yadav set him up with a deft header. Mumbai FC were unlucky not to equalise in the 74th minute when a Yadav header came off the inside of the far post.
In other matches, Air India overcame JCT 2-0 in Ludhiana while East Bengal recorded a 1-0 over Sporting Clube de Goa in Margao.
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