Hindustan ride on late winner
Hindustan FC edged past Manipur’s TRAU FC 1- 0 in their opening match of the Hero 2nd Division League final round on Thursday at the FSV Arena in Bengaluru.
TRAU were favoured to win the competition opener but it was Hindustan who came through thanks to a second half stoppage time goal by substitute Tushar Chaudhary.
The game started at a brisk pace with TRAU pressing high up the field to nullify Hindustan’s efforts to circulate the ball at swiftly. It resulted in a battle for ball possession in the midfield but not enough scoring chances.
The first opportunity fell to TRAU’s Princewill Emeka on 17 minutes. But Hindustan goalkeeper Mithun Samonto was agile enough to block his attempt after the Nigerian forward turned away from his marker to launch a weak shot.
On the half- hour mark‚ Emeka again tried a shot but it was off target. Eight minutes later winger Malemnganba Meitei rose unchallenged to head a free kick narrowly wide.
Hindustan’s only chance in the first- half was squandered by Khusant Chauhan.
He got himself between two TRAU defenders but because of poor receiving, couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity.
Just before the half- time, Emeka again caused some panic in the Hindustan box, but his crosses were wasted by Reisangmei Vashum and Angousana Luwang.
TRAU continued to dictate matters after the break half with Vashum shooting narrowly wide five minutes into the second session. Delhi- based Hindustan came close to scoring in the 57th minute when Nikhil Gehlot broke through on goal, but he was superbly denied in a oneonone with TRAU goalkeeper Tajuddin. Hindustan’s attacking spearhead Kushant Chauhan had a frustrating outing as he was closely marked throughout.
Towards the end, TRAU showed more endeavour in attack but they were unable to breach Hindustan’s defence, marshalled by Amestrong Alexandre and skipper Pushpender Kundu.
An inspired substitution from Hindustan coach Vikrant Sharma sealed the victory, as Chaudhary kept his cool and nudged home the winner with less than four minutes to play.
Hindustan will next take on Ozone FC while TRAU are up against Real Kashmir FC on Sunday.