SHILLONG, MAR 9: Rangdajied United moved up to 11th spot in the I-League table after a brilliant 4-0 win over United SC at Polo Ground in Shillong on Sunday evening.
Head coach Hering Shangpliang made a couple of changes to the side that had beaten table-topping Bengaluru FC 3-2 at home a few days back, with Elam Abocha Singh and Yohei Iwasaki coming in for Tomba Singh and T Lalnunpuia.
Rangdajied United started the game brightly, and were clearly the better of the two sides, as they made some decent runs into the United box in the early minutes of the game.
The first big chance of the game fell to Ranti Martins, who was playing against his former team, in the 20th minute. The Nigerian forward, however, failed to get past the United custodian.
A couple of minutes later, a Rangdajied corner stooped dangerously into the United box, but with any of the Rangdajied players failing to make any decent contact with the ball, the scores remained goalless.
Skipper Eugeneson Lyngdoh tried his luck a minute later from the edge of the box, but saw his shot go over the crossbar. On the other hand, United SC almost took the lead on the counter a few minutes later when a well-constructed move saw Yohei Iwasaki of Rangdajied make a last-gasp clearance to deny the visitors a goal, as the teams headed into the break with the scores unchanged.
The hosts began the second half with continuous forays into the United SC half. The relentless attacking soon bore fruits, as Kim Song Yong’s shot from long-range finally broke the visitors’ resistance, handing Rangdajied a deserved lead.
The Blues continued dominating the game, and kept more possession of the ball during the second half. In the 69th minute, Ranti Martins’ shot from the edge of the box went past the United SC custodian, thus doubling Rangdajied’s lead.
The game soon slowed down a bit, and the Rangdajied players happily circulated possession of the ball for most of the next few minutes. Lalnunpuia entered the game as a substitute in the later stages of the game, and he soon extended Rangdajied’s lead with a close-range finish in the 86th minute.
Lalnunpuia added another for the Blues with a brilliant finish in the last minute of stoppage time, extending the club’s lead to 4 goals, meaning that Rangdajied registered their biggest ever win in the I-League.
The 3 points will come as a huge boost for the club’s ambitions of staying in the I-League next season. The Hering Shangpliang-coached side will now move their attention to Saturday’s home game against Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan, with a chance to extend their winning streak to 3 games.- By Our Reporter
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