Champs Aizawl fight to avoid relegation
AIZAWL: Aizawl FC will host Indian Arrows at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Friday, which is going to be their newly-appointed coach Santosh Kashyap’s first home match in this I-League season. The veteran coach, who has taken over the reins after Aizawl FC parted way with Paulo Menezes, is yet to garner a win with the team. Kashyap’s first match was a high-scoring stalemate in Goa, which was followed by a 1-2 loss to Lajong.
Arrows, who are lying at the bottom of the table after 16 games, desperately need three points to climb up the ladder. On the other hand, Aizawl are without a win in the last eight games and have garner only five points from their last eight contests.
Speaking on the eve of the match, Arrows head coach Luis Norton said, “I’m really glad to be here in Aizawl and I am very proud of the boys. We shouldn’t forget that this is not a senior team and we want to learn and progress in football. What we have achieved till now is good. Every team in the league has foreigners and we have none.
“Our aim is not to amass points but the development of the boys. We have to think about the development of all the boys. After twothree years, these boys will develop to another level,”Matos said.
Edmund Lalrindika, who scored his first goal of the season against Aizawl in their last match, said, “I’m excited to be playing in Aizawl. In our last three games, we’ve won one and drawn two. We will play to get three points tomorrow.”
However, the former India U-19 skipper pointed out that the crowd support could give Aizawl the edge. “If we can play our game, I know we can win but it won’t be an easy game as Aizawl FC always have a huge crowd.”
Aizawl will need more than a miracle to retain the title and coach Kashyap said, “We need to think one game at a time. We are in the relegation battle but we will play for three points tomorrow.”