BENGALURU, SEPT 29: Rangdajied United suffered the second straight defeat of their debut I-League campaign on Sunday as they were beaten by Bengaluru FC 3-0 at the Bangalore Football Stadium. John Johnson, Sean Rooney and Sunil Chhetri were the goal scorers for the home side.
Rangdajied United coach Santosh Kashyap made four changes to the lineup that started in the 2-0 loss to United SC in the opening weekend as young striker Sandesh Gadkari found himself on the bench while Senegalese defender Lamine Tamba wasn’t in the match squad at all.
Sambhu Mistry started in goal in place of Surjay Pariyar while Ambilstar Sunn, Thomas Saikhom and T Lalnunpuia got into the team as well.
Despite the changes in the team, Rangdajied United failed to make a positive start with their only real effort in the first quarter of the game being a snapshot from Japanese Yohei Iwasaki which went off target.
At the other end Sambhu Mistry was kept busy by the Bengaluru FC attack as the Rangdajied goalkeeper had to make a couple of important saves to preserve his team’s clean sheet. The home team also had a goal disallowed as Australian Sean Rooney was adjudged offside despite putting the ball into the back of the net.
Bengaluru FC’s pressure eventually paid off as former Middlesbrough defender Johnson headed home Beikhokhei Beingaichho’s corner to put the home team in front. Rangdajied tried to respond but were unable to create any clear opportunity for the remainder of the first half.
The Shillong club had a golden opportunity to equalise at the start of the second period when Brazilian Edmar Figueira found himself free in the Bengaluru box but his effort was saved by Pawan Kumar.
The visitors had started the second half well but Bengaluru soon doubled their advantage as Rooney slotted home Beingaichho’s well-measured low cross much to the delight of the home fans.
Coach Kashyap introduced Laldingn Gheta in place of Lalnunpuia as Rangdajied tried to increase the intensity in order to come back into the contest. They enjoyed a decent spell, winning a couple of corners but couldn’t test Bengaluru custodian Pawan Kumar.
At the other end, India captain Sunil Chhetri killed the game off by netting the third. The Bengaluru skipper rounded off a fine counter attack to make it 3-0 to the hosts.
There was no way back for Rangdajied after that and unfortunately they didn’t look like scoring a consolation also. Even the late introductions of Bansharai Sunn and Sandesh Gadkari didn’t help matters.
After two difficult away games where most of the players struggled to cope with the humidity of Kolkata and Bangalore, Rangdajied United will enjoy home comforts next week as they host their first-ever I-League match against five-time record Indian champions Dempo.
Rangdajied United lineup: Sambhu Mistry; Poibang Poshna, Thomas Saikhom, Pratik Chowdhury, Elam Abocha Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Ambilstar Sunn (Sandesh Gadkari 87) Yohei Iwasaki, (Bansharai Sunn 78), Edmar Figueira, Restomwell Khriam, T Lalnunpuia (Laldingngheta 57).- By Our Reporter
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