Laldanmawia nets hat-trick as East Bengal rout Lajong
KOLKATA:EVEN though he has won an I-league, the Santosh Trophy and on Thursday became the first Indian to score a hat-trick in the 2018-19 I-league, Laldanmawia Ralte isn’t used to the arclights. He needs East Bengal teammate Brandon Vanlalremdika to navigate media conferences.
But if East Bengal are to make a final pitch for a maiden I-league title, they will need this 26-yearold wide right to make a telling contribution. He did in the 5-0 win against Shillong Lajong that took East Bengal to 31 points after 15 rounds; his personal tally rising to seven goals, only two behind the team’s highest scorer Jobby Justin. If East Bengal beat Churchill Brothers at home on Sunday, they will be level on points with the current leaders Chennai City FC.
Laldanmawia’s biggest hero is the man who put Mizoram on the Indian football map: Shylo Malsawmtluanga (Mama). His father and brother played football but it was Mama who inspired him to travel from Sialhawk, 200km from Mizoram’s capital Aizawl. It is a journey that has taken him to the Chennai Super Division, the I-league title with Aizawl FC in 2016-17, the Santosh Trophy in 2013-14 and an India cap.
If evidence was needed of his technique and temperament, Laldanmawia Ralte showed it with his second goal in the 27th minute, taking down a long pass from East Bengal central defender Borja Gomez with his right foot before lobbing Phurba Lachenpa in the Shillong Lajong goal with his left.
Within a minute of the second goal, Shillong Lajong let in another and this time it was Justin who got a touch. Starting after eight games, Enrique Esqueda made the most of the young Lajong team giving him space to execute a smart side-volley to make it 4-0 in the first minute of first half added time.
In the eightth minute, Laldanmawia Ralte had timed his leap right among a cluster of Shillong Lajong players to meet Lalrindika Ralte’s corner kick and head home. In the 61st minute, Laldanmawia shot home after Justin sold a dummy to complete East Bengal’s fourth win on the trot.
GOA BEAT ATK
GOA: FC Goa returned to their free-flowing ways as they beat ATK 3-0 in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Thursday. Jackichand Singh scored in the opening minute for the hosts before Ferran Corominas added a brace.
KERALA EYE WIN
KOCHI:WITH just one win this season and winless in their last 14 games, Kerala Blasters will be looking to end the drought when they host bottom-placed Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday.