Kareem Omolaja Nurain’s late strike from the penalty spot steered Minerva Punjab FC to a 5-4 win over Churchill Brothers in the I-League in Goa on Sunday, PTI reported.
The momentum shifted between the two sides through the game with Minerva firing in the opening goal in fourth minute through David Ngaihte. Bottom-placed Churchill Brothers shot right back with Chesterpoul Lyngdoh three minutes later. They soon took the lead as Adil Khan found the back of the net in the 18th minute.
Minerva, though weren’t the one to get bogged down and equalised four minutes later through Simranjit. The hectic goal action saw a fifth goal in the 31st minute as Souvik Das handed Minerva the lead once again.
Just as it looked like there won’t be anymore goals in the first half, Anthony Wolfe levelled the scores at 3-3 four minutes ahead of half-time.
In the second-half, the goal-fest hardly ebbed, with Loveday Enyinaya Okechikwu bundling in ont six minutes into the half and giving Minerva the lead in for the third time.
There was more action in store though, as Ansumana Kromah made it 4-4 in the 76th minute to send the game towards an exciting finish.
A But fortune seemed to have favoured Minerva who got a lucky break as Anirudh Thapa’s shot towards goal hit Keenan Almeida on the hand. Nurain made no mistake from the spot to break the deadlock.
The win takes Minerva Punjab FC’s tally to 10 points -the same as DSK Shivajians – but they are placed behind DSK at seventh on account of inferior goal difference. Meanwhile, Churchill continue to remain at the bottom with six points from 10 matches.
Shillong Lajong beat Chennai City 4-1
Shillong Lajong dispelled their away woes with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Chennai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Goals from Fabio Pena (38’), Issac Vanlalsawma (65’), Bipin Singh (77’) and Aser Dipanda (79′) propelled the Meghalaya-based team while Amiri (89′) grabbed a late consolation for the home team.
The scores
- Churchill Brothers 4 (Chesterpoul Lyngdoh, Adil Khan, Anthony Wolfe, Ansumana Kromah) lost to Minerva Punjab FC 5 (David Ngaihte, Simranjit Singh, Souvik Das, Loveday Enyinaya Okechukwu, Kareem Omolaja Nurain).
- Chennai City FC 1 (Amiri) lost to Shillong Lajong 4 (Fabio Pena, Issac Vanlalsawma), Bipin Singh, Aser Dipanda).
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