Rangdajied go down fighting to Mohammedan Sporting

Kolkata: Rangdajied United's misery in Kolkata continues as the Shillong side went down fighting 2-1 to Mohammedan Sporting at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday.

Ranti Martins put the visitors ahead in the 12 minute but the host came back strong and equalised through Taro Hasegawa in the 33rd minute before Luciano Sobrosa scored from the spot in the 62nd minute.

The result allows Mohammedan Sporting to do the double over RUFC and move up a place to 12th in the ranking. Rangdajied meanwhile drop to the 10th place as Mohun Bagan, by virtue of the point earned against United SC, accumulate 25 points to go up to 8th. (At the time of writing this report)

The defeat today is a great setback for The Blues as they will now have to go into the Shillong Derby on April 21st with mountains on their head. Even a win in the derby will not ensure their survival as they will have to count into others' results as well.

However, coming into the match today, it was Rangdajied which started the brighter of the two. David Ngaihte, who got a start after a long time, was into the thick of things right in the 2nd minute when his shot sailed over wide off the far post.

In the 5th minute, Elam Abocha did well from the midfield and tried to send in a through a through pass to Ranti which the "Wall of Mohammedan Sporting" - Luciano Sabrosa intercepted.

David Ngaihte, who was playing a free role just behind Ranti and Lalnunpuia, who was used in the midfield, combined very well. Their sleek one-two and speed caught the home side off-the-guard on couple of occasions even earning a free-kick in the process, which was clear easily.

The attacks persist and paid dividends in the 12th minute, when the Goal Machine - Ranti Martins - scored his 8th goal for Rangdajied. It was David Ngaihte again from the right who outpaced a defender to send in a cross at the far post for Lalnunpuia to do the scoring. But Puia's header was saved by Luis Barreto on which Ranti pounced over and slotted the ball into the goal.

The goal however served as an alarm for the home side. They had a good chance to equalise in the very next minute when a lofted ball by Penn was beautifully chested down by Joshimar inside the box. But before he could take the shot, Rehenesh pounced on it.

In the 17th minute, MSC got another chance when Penn left a ball for Manish Maithani to smash it to the goal but was brilliantly blocked by Yohei Iwasaki. Ranti came close to scoring again two minutes later, when he eased Sabrosa off the ball with just the keeper to beat. But the referee called a foul much to the disappointment of the away team, who saw it as a fair challenge.

With heat wearing down the Chosen Ones, the home side, who are accustomed to the hot conditions of Kolkata, started to take control of the game and initiated flurry of attacks. The introduction of Taro Hasegawa paid dividends in the 33rd minute when the Japanese single-handedly levelled the proceedings. He cut in Restom from the left, before unleashing a power-pack shot, giving Rehenesh no chance to react.

Mohammedan produced few more chances thereafter but failed to changed the scoreline any further as they went into the break 1-1.

Resumption saw the Sanjoy Sen side playing with more intent as heat was really taking toll on the Shillong side. Joshimar nearly gave the Black Panthers a lead in the 54th minute when his shot from a narrow angle hit the post before Rehenesh made another brilliant save off Penn three minutes later.

Then the worst happened just after the hour mark when an on-rushing Manish was brought down by Tamba inside the box. Luciano Sabrosa stepped up to take the shot and send Rehenesh the wrong way, giving Mohammedan the lead.

Rangdajied went all-out in the attack after the goal but were successfully handled by Sabrosa and Co as the Kolkata side slowed down their game and played around with the ball. But Rangdajied could have still earned a point, had Eugeneson shot the ball to the goal, when he had only the keeper to beat during the extra time.

In the end, Rangdajied had to return disappointed for the 3rd time from Kolkata, with just one match left against local rival, Shillong Lajong to redeem themselves.