Real Kashmir FC registered its first win of the Hero I-League this season with a thrilling 2-1 win over defending champion Chennai City FC at the TRC Ground here on Thursday.
Danish Farooq gave the host the lead before Bazie Armand added another goal. Syed Suhail Pasha pulled one back for the visitors, but the Snow Leopards held on to bag three points.
Changes
Coach David Robertson made two changes to his previous line-up. Singam Subash Singh started upfront at the expense of Gnohere Krizo. At the back, Armand was given the nod ahead of Dalraj Singh.
Chennai City made one change when Akbar Nawas named Pradison Mariyadasan in his starting eleven in place of Bijay Chhetri.
Real Kashmir FC co-founder Sandeep Chattoo commented, “It was a splendid win. The coach and the team ensured that every Kashmiri returned home smiling.”
The first goal came in the 22nd minute, when an exquisite set-piece delivery from Kallum Higginbotham found Hero-of-the-Match Danish in the box, who made just the right contact with his head, to give Real Kashmir the lead. The host doubled the lead in the 27th minute.
Yet again, it was Higginbotham who was involved in the mix. He cut inside on the left, which created some space for him to deliver another immaculate delivery into the box and Armand was at the right place to head it into the top corner.
Chennai City reduced the deficit in the 48th minute. A cheeky back-flick by Pravitto Raju generated just the right elevation for Jockson Dhas to head it past Phurba Lachenpa in the Kashmir goal to bring the game right back in the balance.
Wayward
Kashmir almost scored n the 68th minute, but Loveday Okechukwu, who was completely unmarked, failed to tap in another Higginbotham set-piece, blasting it high and wide.
The win took Kashmir to seventh in the standings with five points. Chennai dropped to eighth, despite the same tally on inferior goal difference of -2.
The scores: Real Kashmir 2 (Danish Farooq 22, Bazie Armand 27) bt Chennai City 1 (Syed Suhail Pasha 48).
