I-League 2015/16 – Fabio gives Shillong their first win of the season
Brazilian forward Fabio's goal at the start of the second half gave Thangboi Singto's men their first three points, while Salgaocar, on the other hand, are rooted to the bottom of the points table. Malky Thompson's men have now lost all their opening four matches so far.
Shillong Lajong FC XI (4-4-2): Kaith (GK); Aibor, Samuel, Yusuke, Gurung; Konsham, Rupert, Bipin, Penn; Uilliams, Fabio
Salgaocar FC XI (4-4-2): Karanjit (GK); Reagan, Gurjinder, Colaco, Lenny; Alesh, Rocus, Thangjam, Jackichand; Saityasen, Duffy
After the disappointing 1-2 loss against Mumbai in their last game, Salgaocar manager Malky Thompson made three changes to his lineup. Keenan Almeida and Augustin Fernandes were replaced by Nicolau Colaco and Reagan Singh in defence, while Calvin Mbarga was replaced by Saityasen Singh in the attack.
Like Salgaocar, Shillong Lajong were also coming into this game on the back of a humiliating 0-3 defeat against Bengaluru FC, and manager Thangboi Singto made a couple of changes to the back-line. Nim Dorjee Tamang and Soraisam Singh were replaced by Japanese defender Yusuke Yamagata and 23-year-old Samuel Shadap.
Salgaocar, who were desperate for a win, made a bright start. Jackichand was quick to stamp his class on the game, as he picked out Saityasen inside the box, after a thrilling run. However, the midfielder's header went just wide of the post in the sixth minute.
In the 10th minute, Salgaocar came close to scoring once again when Darryl Duffy failed to keep his shot on target, despite Vishal Kaith, the Shillong goalkeeper, being out of position.
The away side slowly grew into the game and started to dominate possession. Shillong were mostly playing on the counter-attack. Jackichand was troubling Shillong's defence with his pace, while Saityasen was making dangerous runs into the box. Both the teams failed to apply the finishing touch in the final third though, as they went in for the halftime break tied at 0-0.
Brazilian forward Fabio Pena provided Shillong with the lead, almost against the run of play, at the start of the second half. The 25-year-old received the ball inside the six-yard box and made no mistake in beating Karanjit Singh in the Salgaocar goal.
Malky Thompson brought on the likes of Gilbert Oliveira and striker Manandeep Singh in order to add more impetus to Salgaocar's attack, however, the home team kept their shape to prevent the Goan side from scoring for the first time this season.
Shillong came close to doubling their lead at the dying moments of the game, when Fabio felt he had scored with a powerful header from few yards out, but Salgaocar captain Karanjit pulled off a world class save to deny him.