Bhubaneswar: I-League teams Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala notched up victories against their respective Indian Super League sides to enter the final round of the inaugural Super Cup football tournament.
Churchill rode on Trinidadian striker Willis Plaza's double strike to beat Delhi Dynamos 2-1 while Gokulam Kerala blanked NorthEast United FC 2-0 -- also via two goals from Ugandan striker Henry Kisekka -- on the first day of the qualifying round matches at the Kalinga Stadium.
The qualifying round matches are being played among teams which had finished from 7th to 10th positions in the I-League as well as the ISL. The top six finishers in each of the league have been handed direct entry of the main round which begins at the same venue on March 31.
Churchill will now face Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan -- another I-League team -- on April 1 in their round of 16 match while Gokulam play Bengaluru FC -- ISL finalists side -- on the same day.
In the first day of the match, Plaza cancelled out Kalu Uche's fifth minute strike by scoring his first goal of the match in the 32nd minute before finding the the match-winner in the 106th minute as the qualifying round match went into extra time after both sides were locked in a 1-1 stalemate in 90 minutes.
With the win, Churchill redeemed their wretched season somewhat after they finished ninth in the 10-team I-League.
For Delhi Dynamos, this was their first loss after the six-match unbeaten run in the ISL. They had finished at eighth position in the ISL.
The ISL side started strong, controlling the proceedings from the midfield where Uruguayan Claudio Mirabaje Correa had an outstanding half.
The Lions got a goal as early as the fifth minute when the Kalu Uche, fresh from a 13-goal run in the ISL, latched on to a ball just outside the box on the left after a neat 1-2 with Nandhakumar, before unleashing a pile-driver which crashed into the back of the net.
Delhi continued to dominate possession. Romeo Fernandez, the Lions' right-sided midfielder, then found Uche again in the 12th minute with a wonderful cross. The Nigerian's header, this time, brought about a neat save from Churchill goalkeeper Cardozo. A minute later, Lalianzuala Changte missed with a clear sight at goal from inside the box.
After the first quarter of an hour, Churchill slowly started to find their feet into the game. They started to work the wings, but were particularly let down by P M Britto's crosses from the right.
In the 32nd minute, Nicolas found Plaza with a wonderful floater from the left wing. The Trinidadian controlled the ball in his own imitable way and drilled a shot through the near post into the back of the net. Delhi's Spanish goalkeeper Xabier had no chance.
The second half was an affair of sustained end to end action with both sides creating and missing opportunities, leaving the match at 1-1 stalemate after 90 of regulation time.
The first 15 minutes of the extra time was a sluggish affair with both teams creating half-chances at best. But Plaza breathed life into the second half of extra time when an innocuous long ball from Jovel Martins from deep inside the Churchill defence saw Plaza trap beautifully over two defenders inside the Delhi box and neatly wrong-foot the keeper to beat him again at the near post.
In the second match of the day also, a double strike by Ugandan striker Henry Kisekka (43rd and 75th minute) gave Gokulam a 2-0 win over NorthEast United.
Both sides were evenly matched till two minutes before the breather when Arjun Jayaraj sent a brilliant through ball for Kisekka on the right side and the Ugandan took a shot at goal from the right edge of the box and found the back of the net.
The second goal also came from the same combination. Arjun Jayaraj's square pass from the right found Kisekka who made no mistake in putting the ball into the net.
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