I-League: Gokulam Kerala hold Aizawl FC at home, Shillong Lajong beaten

KOLKATA: Coming into the game on a high following their emphatic win against northeast rivals Shillong Lajong, Aizawl FC failed to continue their run in I-League as they were held to a 1-1 draw by the former two-time champions Gokulam Kerala at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Aizawl on Saturday.

The draw saw the hosts slip to fourth spot as Real Kashmir leapfrogged them to third on the table following their 3-1 win over Shillong Lajong in Srinagar earlier in the day.

Aizawl began the game well and could have scored from a long shot in the 17th minute but Gokulam goalkeeper Avilash Paul, who earlier played for the People’s Club, did well to tip it over the bar. A minute later Paul was again called into action when Lalthanmawia was on target from close range. Paul failed to collect it properly at first attempt but did well to hang on to it after a second try.

However, Paul’s defence was finally breached in the 31st minute when Lalrinfela ran down the right and played an inch-perfect pass to Lalbiakdika, who made a lovely run through the Gokulam backline and played the ball into the bottom-left corner. It was placed perfectly and there was nothing Paul could do to keep it from going in.

The hosts could have easily doubled their lead 12 minutes later but this time Paul made an acrobatic save to deny Lalthanmawia when he tried to curl one in into the top right corner from left.

However, as the first-half was coming to an end, the visitors finally got their act together and started to threaten the Aizawl defence. And it didn’t take them long to find the net. It was a perfect centre from left by Muhammed Saheef and Alejandro Sanchez Lopez made no mistake of heading it home in the fourth minute of added time to grab his 10th goal of the tournament.

With the scores level, Aizawl began the second half with a lot of gusto but failed to create much opportunities. Gokulam, meanwhile, did well to keep Lalrinzuala, who has nine goals to his name in the league so far, completely quiet.

But with four minutes left on the clock, Aizawl had a great chance to score the winner when Lalthanmawia delivered a through towards the goal from left. Sadly though Lalrinzuala failed to get a touch to it at the near post and then Lalbiakdika skied the ball at the far post.

With the draw, the People’s Club remained unbeaten in six matches and have 18 points from 10 matches. As for Gokulam, they rose to sixth spot with 14 points from 10 matches.

Meanwhile, at TRC Turf Ground in Srinagar hosts Real Kashmir had no trouble against the visitors from Meghalaya. They took the lead through Ghanaian midfielder Kamal Issah in the fifth minute itself. Lajong did pull one back through Karim Samb 11 minutes later but the hosts scored two goals in the second half — through Gnohere Krizo (55’) and Mohammad Inam (69’) — to grab their sixth win of the league.

The victory saw Ishfaq Ahmed’s Real Kashmir go level on 20 points with Sreenidi Deccan, who are currently on second spot. Meanwhile, Lajong remain fifth with 16 points from 10 games.


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