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Shillong Lajong FC held Gokulam Kerala FC to a 1-1 stalemate in their final home fixture of the ongoing I-League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong tonight. Following the result, Lajong FC are still stranded at the bottom of the table with 11 points from 18 matches whereas Gokulam FC have accumulated 14 having played one game fewer.
Gokulam Kerala FC drew the first blood through a stellar finish from Marcus Joseph in the 43rd minute before Samuel Lalmuanpia restored the parity for the hosts in the 65th minute. Mahesh Singh Naorem was adjudged the Hero of the match.
Shillong Lajong FC started the game with two changes, goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa had to be rested due to his injury from the last game against Chennai City FC and he was replaced by Neinthovilie Chalieu while Kynsailang Kharsong was replaced by Rakesh Pradhan.
Gokulam Kerala FC, on the other hand, tweaked their team with four changes from the last match. Abhishek Das, Felipe de Castro, Arjun Jayaraj and Pritam Singh found their places in the starting eleven replacing Deepak Kumar, Ralph Alfred, Suhair V.P. and L. Haunhar.
Gokulam FC began on an attacking note and the combination of Felipe de Castro along with Marcus Joseph kept on pressing hard making attempts in short intervals. Full credit to Shillong’s defence line, which otherwise isn’t known to be the best in the business, ensured that the visitors do not get any clear chance to take an early lead in the game.
Shillong Lajong FC, on the other hand, tried to attack through Mahesh Singh and Kitboklang Pale but were unable to create any threatening moment for the visitors. The lion’s share of the possession, however, belonged to Gokulam Kerala FC as they were mostly dictating the game from the midfield.
Gokulam FC’s efforts finally paid dividends when a wonderful cross from Arun Jayaraj to Marcus Joseph saw the latter finding the back of the net through an exquisite finish in the 43rd minute. This gave Gokulam Kerala FC a much needed 1-0 lead at the halfway mark.
The second half began with Gokulam Kerala FC pressing hard but an alert Shillong Lajong FC defence ensured the visitors do not get another chance to double their lead. Shillong Lajong FC continued their attacks on the counter but they finally got the reward when Mahesh was brought down by Daniel Addo inside the box having earned a spot-kick after the hour-mark.
Samuel Lalmuanpuia, thereafter, made no mistake in finding the much-needed equalizer for the red devils in the 65th minute. The game thereafter saw Shillong Lajong FC making a few attempts but were unable to find the breakthrough to win all three points to come out of the relegation zone.
What would hurt Gokulam Kerala FC most is the marching orders of the Brazilian Midfielder Felipe Castro in the 81st minute. Gokulam Kerala FC still tried hard to breach the Lajong FC defence with 10 men but the young Reds stood tall to deny the visitors any further opportunity to score.
