New Delhi: Second half goals from Steven Dias and Chidi Edeh gave visitors Mahindra United a 2-0 victory over Chirag United in the I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday and extended the gap between them and the relegation zone to five points.
First Half
This was a relegation six-pointer and understandably no one expected it to be a pretty match and it wasn't. The first chance of a pretty much scrappy half fell to the hosts Chirag United. Striker Muritala Ali tried a low drive from outside the penalty area in the 5th minute only to hit it straight at Mahindra United custodian Subhashish Chowdhury.
But the home side was hit by an injury in the 11th minute when Gouranga Dutta got injured and had to be replaced by Shasti Duley. Soon after Mahindra winger Steven Dias had a chance with a free-kick from 25 yards out but saw his shot go wide off the mark.
The match then sank into a quiet phase after that and became a scrappy affair as neither side could retain possession. The match became slightly lively only in the 26th minute when Muritala Ali took a shot from the outside the Mahindra penalty area only for it to get deflected for a corner.
Chirag's Daniel Ayeni then exhibited an amazing form of trickery when he performed an amazing turn in the Mahindra penalty area among a cluster of bodies but failed to take his shot properly. That was in the 28th minute, and by this time Chirag had started to impress themselves upon Mahindra and looked the better and the more adventurous side. They had a number of half chances, most of which fell for Muritala, but failed to capitalize on this chances.
Chirag were awarded a free-kick in the 37th minute on the right edge of the Mahindra box but Daniel hit straight at Chowdhury. The first half ended on a positive note for Chirag who looked the more capable side of scoring whereas Mahindra were living off the crumbs of the odd counter-attacks.
Second Half
Chirag wrung a substitution at half-time when Denson Devadas came on for Dulal Biswas. But that didn't seem to help the home side initially as Mahindra took the lead seven minutes into the second period. Mahindra were awarded a free-kick just on the right edge of the Chirag penalty area. Indian international Dias took the responsibility of taking the free-kick and lofted the ball exquisitely in the back of the Chirag net.
The visitors then made a change of their own just after the hour mark when NP Pradeep was replaced by Sukhwinder Singh. Chirag, though, didn't buckle down and continued to press on. They created a good chance of their own when a sharply measured cross from Shasti Duley from the right just missed Muritala's head only for the ball to bounce back to Devadas off a defender. But the half-time substitute couldn't direct his shot to the back of the Mahindra net as it was deflected out for a corner. Chirag then brought on veteran Basudeb Mondal for Hardeep Singh in midfield in the 64th minute.
But that change didn't seem to click as Mahindra doubled their lead in the 72nd minute. A quick instinctive move saw the Chirag defenders taken off guard and although Chidi Edeh's initial shot from inside the penaltya area was parried, Izumi's shot on goal bounced off a defender to Chidi who placed the ball in the back of the Chirag net from a couple of yards out.
Immediately after, Mahindra brought on Mohammad Rafi in place of Izumi although Mahindra had virtually wrapped up the match and the three points by then. But to Chirag's credit, they did not lose heart or hope and played with momemtum and urgency that made the second half much livelier than the first-half.
Chirag did have a couple or so chances in the last 10 minutes of the match but somehow their movements didn't seem to possess a predetermined scheme and looked more born out of urgency than careful construction.
So Mahindra garner three points away from home and this would certainly help them in their fight against relegation.
More from Goal.comFeature: Under the radar, 10 unexpected transfersPlayer ratings: Liverpool 2-0 ChelseaPlayer ratings: Lazio 0-3 MilanEnglish angle: Can Red-reject Robbie Keane get back to his best?
Comments
0 comment