Shillong Lajong 1-1 Pune FC: The Red Lizards Extend Their Unbeaten Streak To Eleven Games

Pune FC yet again came back from a goal down, to draw 1-1 with Shillong Lajong FC in an I-League round 17 encounter at the Jawahrlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong on Saturday.

A close to capacity crowd went ballistic when Seikhohau Tuboi put the hosts ahead in the 52^nd minute, but Mandjou Keita equalised from the spot in the 72^nd minute to silence the home supporters.

 Both the sides lost their first choice goalkeepers, Lalthuammawia Ralte and Abhra Mondal to injuries during the game.

Unsurprisingly, it was the home side that began on the front foot, but the first chance of the match fell to the visitors, when Douhou Pierre tried his luck with a shot, but it was straight at the keeper. John Menyongar and Eugeneson Lyngdoh retaliated for Pradhyum Reddy’s men with efforts of their own, but both the players failed to test the keeper.

Abhra Mondal then made two key interventions for Pune FC. First, he took the ball off Matthew Mayora’s head, after Lyngdoh’s cross almost found Lajong’s new signing and then soon after, Mondal came out to deny Boithang Haokip.

The away side came close to taking the lead when S. Venkatesh’s ball into the box found Gurjinder Kumar, whose header, frustratingly for the Red Lizards faithful, came off the bar.

The half ended with neither team being able to break the deadlock.

After the change of ends, Subash Singh almost put Derrick Pereira’s side ahead, but with the custodian beaten, a last ditch tackle by Shillong Lajong’s defender foiled Subash’s bid to find the back of the net.

It was very much against the run of play that Lajong went ahead, when Tuboi touched the ball past Abhra Mondal and then rolled the ball past the goal line in the 52nd minute.

Karma Tsewang almost equalised instantly, but his effort was brilliantly saved by the opposition keeper.

But the constant pressure applied by the Red Lizards eventually paid off, as Lallawmzuala handled the ball in the box, giving away a penalty in the 72^nd minute, which Keita calmly slotted home.

The injuries to the two keepers slowed down the tempo of the game and neither team was able to add to the scoreline thereafter.

The result helped Pune FC extend their unbeaten run to 11 games and move to 6^th position, although Salgaocar SC have a game in hand over their Pune based rivals.

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