Nayanar Cup: Shillong held for a draw

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Australian forward Matthew Mayora missed a penalty in his second attempt for Shillong Lajong FC as Mumbai FC drew 1-1 the Group 2 match of E.K. Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup held at Kozhikode Corporation Stadium here on Monday.
Shillong won the penalty after their striker Tuboi, in his pursuit to goal, was stamped by Mumbai FC custodian Sanjibam Ghosh in the 72nd minute of the game. Matthew, who netted in the first attempt, was turned down by the referee as a Mumbai player rushed into the box before the spot kick.

Matthew took the shot again but this time it was saved brilliantly by the Mumbai goalie. He tried to score in the rebound but missed the glory as the ball struck the woodwork.

Not many action were there in the opening 30 minutes of the match. Apart from the stray running by Mumbai FC forward, the play was confined to midfield most of the time.

The deadlock was broken by Tuboi, who scored in the 33rd minute in a counterattack as Matthew assisted from the left flank.

In the 44th minute, Mumbai FC almost equalised as Haroon Fakruddin Amiri dribbled past a couple of defenders and squared the ball to Puia who netted it without any difficulty. But this time, linesman played the spoilsport by flagging it offside.

Second half started with a swifter play as both Lajong FC and Mumbai FC started to attack each others halves. Tuboi fluffed an easy chance to score but Mumbai custodian thwarted the threat in the 58 th minute.

In the 65th minute, Mumbai equalised through a powerful header from Haroon Fakrudiin Amiri. The Afghanisthan captain received an equally-good long throw from Dhananchandra Singh to score the stunner and make the score 1-1.

In the dying minutes of the game, Shillong’s Lalramluaha received the first red card of the tournament for tackling Faizal Rehman from behind.