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Stephane Kamo Bayi’s brace (7′, 46′) and a late goal by Laldanmawia Ralte (85′) proved enough for Aizawl FC to gain all three points from Churchill Brothers at the Tilak Maidan in Goa to put the pressure back on Mohun Bagan in the I-League title race.
Although Anthony D’Souza (69′) pulled one back in the second-half, the highlanders sealed it off in the later stage when the Mizo youngster Laldanmawia nailed the final one.
Incidentally, the Red Machines handed the Mariners their first defeat at the same venue a few weeks ago to halt their unbeaten run in the I-League 2016-17. Nonetheless, Aizawl FC go atop the table with the magnificent win, at least for another 90 minutes, until the full-time whistle at the Guru Nanak Stadium where Minerva Punjab FC host Mohun Bagan later today.
Churchill Brothers fans could have had an elated opening but Chesterpoul Lyngdoh’s header crashed into the woodwork in the third minute.
Aizawl FC drew the first blood early in the seventh minute when Liberian striker Stephane Kamo Bayi poked it wisely between Naveen Kumar’s legs following a misunderstanding between Meldon D’Silva and Adil Khan.
Brandon Fernandes and Meldon combined well from the flanks to build up the attacks which latched onto the Aizawl FC 18-yard box copious times but eventually failed to hit the target.
After the changeover, even before the spectators could settle in, Stephane Kamo Bayi was spot on to rack his tally to seven goals thisI-League season.
Derrick Pereira’s boys sensed some urgency and responded well. With the introductions of Anthony Fernandes and Gabriel Fernandes, the Goan outfit showed some real positive intent to make a comeback into the game.
In the 70th minute, Anthony Wolfe latched on a marvellous run from the middle of the pitch and finally made an inch-perfect pass to Anthony Fernandes who breached the Aizawl FC defence, finally, to put some life into the game.
After the goal, Churchill Brothers flooded the Aizawl FC box with a flurry of attacks. In the 77th minute, Albino Gomes made an acrobatic save to deny Gabriel Fernandes an equaliser.
Towards the end of the game, when Churchill Brothers opted to go all-out in their quest for the elusive equaliser, Laldanmawia Ralte sprinted almost 30 yards to finally net the third one for the Mizo-outfit, which took them to 33 points from 16 matches.
Now Khalid Jamil’s troop will gear up to take on Mohun Bagan in their final I-League home game this season on April 22, which would eventually prove to be an absolute show-stopper in terms of deciding the fate of the I-League 2016-17.
