I-League 2015/16: Wasteful Shillong snatch late draw against DSK

02/26/2016

Image Courtesy: © Facebook - Shillong Lajong FC

A header from Cameroon striker Aser Dipanda near the hour mark had put DSK Shivajians in the lead against a wasteful home side. But a free kick from Boithang Haokip in the 74th minute helped Shillong Lajong earn a 1-1 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to avoid a defeat in front of the home fans.

Starting Line-ups:

DSK Shivajians: Prasenjit Ghosh (GK), Rohan, Chougale, Zohmingliana, Shrikant, Ralte, Gurung, Douhou, Barraso, Amiri, Dipanda (c)

Shillong Lajong: Vishal (GK), Samuel, Pritam, Aibor (c), Sana, Penn, Boithang, Rupert, Fabio, Bipin, Uilliams

After sharing points at the Balewadi stadium in Pune last Sunday, DSK Shivajians and Shillong Lajong once again took on each other in search of the three points that slipped away last week. DSK coach Derrick Pereira made five changes to his team and brought in Prasenjit Ghosh, Rohan Adnaik, Indrajit Chougale and Shrikanth Molangiri for Subrata Paul, Mohammad Sajid Dhot, Milan Singh and Baljit Sahni respectively.

Shillong coach Thangboi Singto also made two changes to his XI with Rupert Nongrum and Bipin Singh coming in for Robin Gurung and Zodingliana Ralte.

Similar to their last encounter between the two, both teams opted for a cautious approach with no prominent attacks. DSK maintained the possession early on with the home side looking to get behind the defence. Shillong looked comfortable giving possession to the away side and used Penn Orji’s pace to get behind the DSK back-four to find an opening. The strategy almost worked for the hosts in the ninth minute, after Boithang produced a defence-splitting pass to find Uilliams. The Brazilian smashed the ball straight at the goal only to see Prasenjit’s dive denying his effort.

Within three minutes, another glorious opportunity fell into the lap of the home side, but Rupert Nongrum opted to blast the ball all the way over the bar instead of slotting the ball into the net. The home side continued their dominance in the attack with Uilliams and Fabio Penna troubling the DSK defence. However, with the home side not able to make full use of their chances, DSK slowly found their grip on the match and ended the half by producing some opportunities for themselves. Chougale and Israil Gurung squandered their chances in the last minutes of the first half as the teams continued to miss chances, and went into the break with the scores deadlocked.

A similar pattern continued in the second half with Shillong Lajong dominating the game to the joy of the home fans. But the end product remained astray as Shillong continued to waste the opportunities. And just like the last game, Shillong were made to pay for their misses in the 60th minute after Cameroon striker Aser Pierrick Dipanda guided a ball into the goal from close range. Spaniard Juan Quero curled in a cross and Dipanda jumped ahead of the defenders to head the ball into the back of the net to put the home side ahead.

The goal produced an instant reaction from Shillong coach Thangboi Singto as he brought on Samuel Lalmuanpuia and Zodingliana Ralte for Uilliams Bomfin and Rupert Nongrum. And it worked for the home side in the 74th minute with Boithang Haokip curling in a free kick from the edge of the box into the back of the net to level things up. Chances continued to flow for the home side in the last 15 minutes, but Penn Orji and Fabio Pena smashed the ball over the crossbar to continue a wasteful day, which saw them missing half a dozen chances. With the home side in ascendancy in the final minutes, DSK chose to escape with a draw from the game, which was largely dominted by Shillong.

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