Ogana on song in Sreenidi’s victory

Kalyani (West Bengal), May 7: Nigerian Louis Ogana scored a brace as Sreenidi Deccan Football Club defeated Punjab FC 2-0 in an I-League championship round match here on Saturday.

Ogana struck in the 17th and 70th minutes to hand Sreenidi their first win in the championships round at the Kalyani Municipal stadium.

Punjab FC dominated the contest in terms of ball possession but Sreenidi created and converted more chances.

The first shot at goal went to Punjab but Kean Lewis’ attempt went wide.

Sreenidi began piling pressure on their opponents and won two backto-back corners in the 11th and 15th minutes but did not get anything out of them.

Ogana broke through the Punjab defence in the 17th minute with a first-time finish. Sriram Boopathi set up Ogana with a superb defence-splitting pass from the midfield, and the Nigerian striker made no mistake put his team 1-0 ahead.

Punjab stepped up, looking for the equaliser and came close to doing so in the 21st minute but Kurtis Guthrie’s header flew wide after Aakash Sangwan sent a fine cross.

In the 35th minute, Sreenidi had another chance with Colombian attacker David Castaneda Munoz setting up Lalromawia with a nice pass in the danger zone. But the Indian midfielder missed the chance as his attempt went over the crossbar.

Ogana doubled Sreenidi lead in the 70th minute with a stunning goal. He initiated the move by finding Phalguni Singh in the six-yard box. Phalguni played it back to Ogana who rattled the back of the net with a thunderous strike.

Sreenidi now take on Gokulum Kerala FC on Tuesday. —