Imphal (Manipur) [India]February 9 (ANI): NEROCA FC defeated Mumbai Kenkre FC 1-0 in the I-League here at the Khuman Lampak Stadium on Wednesday.
A competition between teams trying to avoid relegation is generally a stingy affair. That was the case today, but NEROCA had the upper hand throughout, as evidenced by their 15 shots on goal, eight of which were on target. Had the Kenkre defense not played a near-perfect match, Khogen Singh’s men would have won by a wider margin. A combined effort from Kynsailang Khongsit and Papuia stopped NEROCA from taking the lead in the 11th minute. The ball reached Hero of the Match Jourdain Fletcher of Nonganba, whose shot was blocked. Then Bayi Kamo passed on to Sweden Fernandes, who was shut out again.
There were no other major incidents in the first half, apart from Kenkre’s Cameroon forward Auguestejunior Boumsomlaga scoring in the 43rd minute, only to be ruled offside. He got another chance to be the hero right after the breath. Boum was unmarked inside the penalty area in the 53rd minute when the ball was headed down to him. But he couldn’t keep his balance and blew the opportunity away.
After a flurry of attacks, NEROCA finally got the goal they wanted as Kamo’s defence-splitting pass found Fletcher in the third. He ran over Samandar Ochilov and went around goalkeeper Padam Chettri, who dived to snatch the ball away from him. Fletcher had gone to an acute angle in the process but did not fail to find the net with his left foot.
David Simbo came very close to doubling the lead with a header from Mirjalol Kasimov’s corner three minutes later, but it went just over the bar.
Kenkre had their backs against the wall but Thokchom Johnson Singh’s red card in the 78th minute gave them some hope. The man had received a warning in the 44th minute for a nasty foul. This time, referee Mithun Kumar Kundu held him guilty of a handball, where the ball came off his back. However, Kenkre was unable to capitalize on the one-man advantage.
The only time they looked really worthy of an equalizer came in the fifth minute of stoppage time. It was more a moment of individual brilliance than a concerted move by Akhil Kothari’s boys. Substitute Afzar Noorani ran in from the left and tried to curl a magnificent right-footer through the far post. But NEROCA keeper Soram Poirei flew to his left and saved his side when they needed it most.
With this win, NEROCA moved up to eighth in the I-League table with 20 points, while Kenkre remained on 14. (ANI)
Source: sn.dk