Lajong rally to beat Pune, enter Super Cup quarterfinals

BHUBANESWAR: Shillong Lajong rallied from 0-2 deficit to beat FC Pune City 3-2 in a thrilling match and book a quarterfinal spot in the inaugural Super Cup football tournament here today.

Pune led 2-1 at half time. Jonatan Lucca put Pune in the lead via a stunning free-kick in the 17th minute before his captain Marcelinho made it 2-0 five minutes later. Abdoulaye Koffi pulled one back for Lajong in the 29th minute. Lajong made a remarkable recovery in the second half. Rakesh Pradhan restored parity in the 61st minute before Samuel scored the match-winner in the second minute of the added time.

EB FACE MUMBAI CITY

East Bengal and Mumbai City FC will look to start afresh when they lock horns on Thursday.

“We have to be positive. We are not thinking about the past. We have a matured set of players who have trained hard,” East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil said.

Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimaraes said: “We had a tough game against Indian Arrows. Every game is going down the wire. We respect our opponents but we are here with a strong will to win. We know that we are going to play a team who has a great history and legacy.”