Drama, drama, and more drama: The encounter between Sreenidi Deccan and Shillong Lajong was a feast for the eyes of neutral spectators, with 10 goals. This contest would probably be the most intriguing match of the season, that showcased both teams’ brutal strike power over the garb of some childish defending.
The team from the mountains, Shillong Lajong, wore their attractive green away kit for the first time in this I-league season. In the fifth minute of the game, the two defenders of Sreenidi failed to clear the ball from a cross and that childish mistake was punished by Douglas Tardin to open the account. Sreenidi Deccan pulled one back to equalize the scoreline in the 11th minute when David Casteneda tapped the ball in from an Abhishek Ambekar cross.
Tardin took the lead again for Lajong when he was left unmarked by two Sreenidi defenders, just 3 minutes after the home side scored the equalizer. From the restart, David Casteneda found Manas Dubey off the line and scored from the half line. In fact, in the live stream, the replays of the previous goal were going on when this goal was scored literally from the kick-off. When the spectator thought that the drama would settle down now, Phrangki Buam scored a stunner to the near post; only god knows what was Ubaid doing there to stop the shot. Ubaid was later substituted in the 32nd minute by Aryan Niraj Lamba. Faysal Shayesteh tried to curl the ball in from a kick, however, Manas Dubey rose to the occasion and denied the goal. Ángel Orelien got two one-on-one chances in the 35th and 39th minute to equalize, but Manas Dubey once again came as the savior for the Sillong side.
The first five goals came in the opening 21 minutes, and it remained 3-2 in favour of Lajong for the next 50 minutes. Five more goals arrived between the 71st and the seventh minute of injury time.
Tardin nearly completed his hattrick in the 50th minute, however, Lamba made a save to keep the home side in the match. The break for the hosts came in the 71st minute when Rosenberg Gabriel deposited the ball at the back of the net from a well-measured cross by Abhishek Ambekar. Douglas Tardin scored a second hat-trick in as many games and took the lead in the 77th minute; more than the attacking prowess of Shillong, the cause of that goal was childish defending from the Sreenidi side. With that strike, he is now leading the Golden Boot race with nine goals.
The Deccan Warriors got a penalty when Renan Paulino was adjudged to have fould William inside by the box. William himself converted the kick into a goal: sending Manas to the wrong side in the process. Glady Nelcen found the lead yet another time for Shillong from a close-range strike and interestingly, José Hevia didn’t celebrate the goal. Maybe because he expected a comeback from Sreenidi Deccan as per the trend of the game. The pinnacle of drama unfolded in the 96th minute when Manas Dubey failed to clear a deflection off his defender. Given his height, anyone would have expected him to clear that ball.
Sajid Dhot, the center-back of Sreenidi, was sent off in the 98th minute when he made a professional foul on Tardin who was in a one-on-one situation with Lamba. The Lajong side once again scored, which would have been the winner, but the linesman ruled it as office when it was not.
Lajong will take on Namdhari on 25th January and Sreenidi will travel to Bengaluru to take on the struggling SC Bengaluru.
