Imphal, Jan 21 (IANS) : NEROCA FC registered their second consecutive win in the I-League 2022-23 when they defeated Aizawl FC 2-1 at the Khuman Lampak Stadium, here on Saturday.
In a game in which all actions unfolded in the second half, the visitors, Aizawl FC, took the lead early in the second half through a well-executed free kick taken by R Lalthanmawia. However, the hosts came out strong and scored two goals in a span of six minutes.
The first 45 minutes of the game was a monotonous affair with the ball moving from one end to the other with neither of the two teams showing any sense of purpose and urgency.
The first real chance of the game came in favour of the visitors in the 18th minute when Lalchhanhima Sailo passed the ball for Henry Kisekka, who failed to get the better of Soram Poirei as the NEROCA custodian managed to collect the ball in his second attempt.
The hosts came close to scoring nine minutes from the half-time. Sweden Fernandes took a powerful shot from the right, but he could not beat Aizawl goalkeeper Lalmuansanga.
In the second half, NEROCA’s Jourdaine Fletcher and Rakesh Singh Meitei attempted long rangers at the rival goal but failed to keep them on target. On another occasion, Fletcher gave a neat pass to Fernandes, who was close to scoring only to be denied by a flawless tackle from Aizawl’s Akito Saito.
In the 56th minute, Matias Veron won a free kick from around 30 yards from the goal. R Lalthanmawia took the free kick and deceived Poirei as the home custodian failed to stop the shot from going into the corner of the net.
After conceding the goal, NEROCA head coach Khogen Singh introduced three changes as the Orange Brigade made every effort to cancel the lead.
In the 76th minute, a weak header from R Ramdinthara landed on the edge of the penalty area and Uzbek Mirjalol Kosimov took a volley that bounced in front of goalkeeper Lalmuansanga before going into the back of the net.
With just eight minutes of regulation time left, Fletcher again charged towards the goal and then the Jamaican launched a stunning shot that ended in the bottom corner of the goal with Lalmuansanga having no chance at saving it.
After getting into the lead, the hosts displayed a cautious approach. However, the game ended in a dramatic fashion. Three minutes into the injury time, substitute Yumnam Singh cut inside from the right to take a shot from the edge of the 18-yard area. He managed to beat the goalkeeper Lalmuansanga but unfortunately was denied by the crossbar.
Two minutes later, on the other end, the goal scorer Lalthanmawia crossed the ball from the right. However, Ramdinthara failed to tap it into an open goal.
𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠.𝑐𝑜𝑚, 𝑍𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑟, 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙,𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑝, 𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑜𝑠, 𝘔𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘔𝘦𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘕𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘚𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴.