Not many teams in the I-league have promoted junior players in their ranks as consistently as Shillong Lajong FC.
With eight under-22 players in the playing XI, Shillong put on a majestic performance to thrash Chennai City FC 4-1 at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
While it was Chennai City which dominated ball possession, it fluffed several opportunities too.
It was Isaac Vanmalsawma who was instrumental in the visitors’ first two goals — one in the first half and the other in the second. In the first instance, his free-kick was headed home by substitute Fabio Pena. Then the the 20-year-old pulled off a wonderful free-kick that sailed into the far right post, giving a diving ’keeper Karanjit Singh little chance.
Chennai City replaced Nandhakumar with Marcos Tank early in the second half, and that lit up the proceedings. The Haitian made some good runs, but his shots were way off the mark.
After struggling for rhythm in the first 45 minutes, Shillong found its range in the second half. There was confidence in the passes from the midfield as the visitors pressed hard and threatened the Chennai City defence.
Bipin Singh put it beyond the host with a thunderous aerial shot from the corner of the box, before Cameroonian Aser Pierrick Dipanda scored his eighth goal of the tournament with a left-footer.
Amiri stuck a late consolation goal for city.
Amiri looked the best player of either team in the first session. As early in the fifth minute, Amiri attempted to head in off an aerial pass from Abhishek Das, but went wide.
Edwin was busy from the left, weaving in his crosses and sometimes going for the kill. In one such instance, the midfielder’s shot off a pass from Dhanpal Ganesh was saved by the ’keeper.
Shillong increased its points tally to 16 to from ten games to jump to fourth position while Chennai City remains on eight from 10.
The results:
At Chennai: Shillong Lajong 4 (Fabio Pena 38, Isaac Vanmalsawma 65, Bipin Singh 77, Aser Pierrick Dipanda 80) bt Chennai City FC 1 (Haroon Fakhruddin Amiri 89).
At Vasco: Minerva Punjab FC 5 (David Ngaihte 4, Simranjit Singh 22, Souvik Das 31, Loveday Enyinaya Okechukwu 51, Nurain 87) bt Churchill Brothers 4 (Chesterpoul Lyngdoh 7, Adil Khan 18, Anthony Wolfe 41, Ansumana Kromah 76). .
