Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]April 24 (ANI): Two goals in the second half for Rajasthan United against NEROCA FC were enough to end their unbeaten four matches, here at Naihati Stadium.
A goal from Biswa Darjee immediately after the break and a late goal from Pedro Manzi got Rajasthan started with a winning start in phase II.
Unlike the Phase I encounter between these two sides, the game got off to a very slow and slow start. None of the goalkeepers were tested as the last third performance from both sides was disappointing. When it looked promising, the attacks were stopped by sharp defenses at both ends.
Aman Thapa looked threatening on the left and won a corner within five minutes. The ball from the dead ball ended up in the feet of Julian Omar Ramos who shot straight up to the stands behind the goal. Shortly after, Rajasthan dropped the ball cheaply on his own half, but Ricky Shabong was alert and calmly picked it up and nodded a raised ball back to his goalkeeper.
Shabong’s play was stopped after an unfortunate injury forced him to retire just before half an hour. Biswa Darjee came in to replace Shabong when Rajasthan United trotted forward with Pritam Singh. Singh shot from distance and kept it on goal but failed to get the necessary power on it as goalkeeper Shubham Dhas easily collected the ball.
In stoppage time in the first half, Anil Chawan came in with a strong challenge on Abdul Salam and had his name taken up by the referee. NEROCA could not do anything to stop the goal; The first half ended with Rajasthan only having one shot on goal and NEROCA without anything.
The second half did not look like the first. Aman Thapa won a corner after forcing a save by Shubham Dhas from close range. From the resulting corner, the ball was cleared from the line by Lallenmang Sitlhou.
Already the next attack resulted in the match’s opening goal. Sardor Jakhonov put in a great effort on the right, but Biswa Darjee saw his volley fly wide of the mark. The header was quite close to Shubham Dhas and the goalkeeper could have done better with that effort.
NEROCA were behind and an injury to Ben Nash Quansah increased their concern. The defender was stretched out but came back to give some relief to his side. NEROCA almost equalized when Abdul Salam picked out Sergio Mendigutxia with a long throw into the box. Goalkeeper Bhaskar Roy came forward to pick it up but spilled it in the process. Luckily for him, his defense was alert and handled the ball well.
Davis Kamanga, who had a calm first half, woke up to life in the second. By dribbling and passing the middle and last third, the Zimbabwean caused many problems for the Rajasthan United defense, and clicked well with Sweden Fernandes and Sergio Mendigutxia on several occasions.
On the hour, Bhaskar Roy came with a brilliant save to deny Sergio Mendigutxia. A few minutes later, Anil Chawan put his body on the line as Rajasthan made two straight blocks and a save to keep the NEROCA attack away. Another chance for NEROCA came via a brilliant race and post from Abdul Salam. The deep cross of the full-back was aimed at Kamanga, who blew it over the crossbar.
The match was stopped in stoppage time when substitute Alocious Muthayyan put Pedro Manzi through on goal with a smart pass and Rajasthan United’s skipper made no mistake when he put the ball into the net. Manzi could have added one to the visitors’ lead if his free kick had gone just a little lower.
All three points and zero lifts Rajasthan United from the bottom of the Championship Playoff table as they go over NEROCA FC, to a 6th place. Both sides are only separated by a single point. (ANI)
Source: sn.dk