Lajong deny Bagan clear advantage
Shillong, April 12: Shillong Lajong held Mohun Bagan 1-1 in a fiercely-contested Hero ILeague matches at the JN Stadium here on Wednesday.
The Mariners go to the top of the standings, at least for three days, thanks to their upper hand over Aizawl in the head to head contest.
While Bagan moved to top spot with 30 points after the tie, Lajong remain fourth with 24 points.
Lajong clearly looked the better side in an exciting first half which saw a couple of chances created and missed by both sides. In-form Dipanda Dicka got the crowd into the act as early as the 11th minute creating a buzz in the Bagan defence with a bicycle kick that eventually landed safely to on Debjit Mazumdar.
Six minutes later, last match’s hero Redeem Tlang almost got the breakthrough for his side when he unleashed a leftfooted scorcher from close range.
Bagan regrouped post the half-hour mark with the likes of Sony Norde, Katsumi Yusa, Darryl Duffy and Eduardo Soares in the thick of the action. A 36th minute Bagan header was denied by a by Vishal Kaith.
Bagan drew first blood in the 75th minute when Jeje Lalpekhlua, who was brought in for Balwant Singh, was found by a long ball from midfield. The forward chipped it over an advancing Vishal Kaith to score his fifth league goal and give his side the crucial lead.
When the entire Bagan camp erupted in joy little did they know that their merriment would be curtailed soon.
Three minutes later, Lajong substitute Fabio Pena’s attempt from inside was clipped by the hand of one of the Bagan defenders. The result was a penalty and Dicka made no mistake to convert it from the spot, netting his 10th goal much to the delight of the over 6000strong crowd.