Goalless draw with Aizawl FC jolts NEROCA FC’s title aspirations

IMPHAL: Debutants NEROCA FC squandered an opportunity to provisionally go top of the table as they were held to a 0-0 draw by defending champions Aizawl FC in an I-League encounter on Saturday.

The home team was guilty of wasting a flurry of chances on either side of half-time as they had to be content with one point which meant they remained second in the points table with 28 points from 15 games.

NEROCA’s hopes of winning the I-League also suffered a jolt as they only have three more matches to go, including a difficult away fixture against East Bengal.

Surprise league leaders Minerva Punjab FC have played a game less and are one point ahead of NEROCA. Aizawl, sixth in the points table, now have 17 points from 13 games. The hosts made three changes from their previous game as Dhananjoy Singh, Aryn Glen Williams and Pritam Singh made way for Govin Singh Moirangthem, Nedo Turkovic and Yumnam Gopi Singh respectively.

As for the visitors, Japanese Yugo Kobayashi’s exclusion was surprising and hinted at coach Paulo Menezes taking a defensive approach.

Injured C. Lalrosanga and Albert Zohmingmawia also did not take part with Lalthathanga Khawlhring, David Lalrinmuana and Shylo Mamsawmtluanga slotted in.

NEROCA dominated proceedings in the opening exchanges. Their coach Gift Raikhan wanted to exploit Aizawl’s weakness at the back with only one recognised centre back, Masih Saighani, starting for the defending champions. Saighani arrived this morning after getting the Protected Area Permit (PAP) required for Afghan nationals to enter the state of Manipur, on Friday evening.