I-League: Churchill demolish 8-man Shillong Lajong in ill-tempered tie, move to the top

Margao: In an ill-tempered tie, Churchill Brothers FC hammered eight-man Shillong Lajong FC 6-1 to move back on top of the I-League table at the panchayat ground, Raia, on Friday.
Marcos Silva (27’) had given the visitors the lead in a half that saw nine bookings. While Churchill kept their composure, Lajong simply had no control in the second half with red cards to Kenstar Karshong (49’), Renan Paulino (54’) and Marcos (90+2).
Match referee Mrutyunajay Amatya had a busy evening and awarded three penalties.
For Churchill, Man-of-the-Match Sebastian Gutierrez scored a fine hat-trick while Pape Gassama and substitute Wayde Lekay netted one each. An own-goal was given to Lajong keeper Ranit Sarkar after the ball rebounded off him into the goal.
Churchill are now back at the top with 34 points from 18 matches. Inter Kashi have the same number of points and are second due to an inferior head-to-head record.
The pressure was on Churchill to score and make a statement. They started brightly as Rafiq Aminu and Gutierrez provided them with an edge in attack.
Most of Churchill’s moves came from the left as wing-back Lalremruata not only helped them win the ball, but also charged freely ahead.
One such move came early on when Lalremruata found Rafiq, who flicked the ball in the path of Gutierrez. The Colombian forward headed over onrushing Lajong keeper Sarkar, but the ball sailed just over the horizontal.
Then Trijoy Dias sent in a dangerous low cross, but Rafiq couldn’t position himself correctly and soon Gassama’s curler missed the target narrowly.
At the other end, Lajong came close for the first time with Treimiki Lamurong’s volley.
But the visitors didn’t have to wait long for an unlikely lead. Marcos was put through on goal, and even as he charged, Nishchal Chandan came up with a tackle that caught Marcos and brought down the Lajong striker down inside the danger zone.
The Brazilian stepped up and converted with a firm right-footer even as goalkeeper Sayed Kadir dived the right way in the 27th minute.
Lajong were buoyed and triggered Churchill in every tackle. There were retaliations, words exchanged and a series of yellow cards for both teams. Churchill were cautioned five times while Lajong four, all in the first half.
But it were Churchill who kept their cool in the second half and turned the tide.
Just minutes into the restart, Kenstar handled the ball in the penalty area. While the referee pointed at the dreaded spot, he also booked Kenstar for a second time and gave the marching orders.
A calm Gassama converted the penalty with ease for the equaliser.
Thereafter, Churchill made the numerical advantage count and Gutierrez got his second in the 52nd minute with a sublime finish from a narrow angle.
It became worse for Lajong when Renan brought down Gassama on the edge of the box to receive his second yellow.
In the meanwhile, Rafiq’s header hit the post, but Churchill didn’t wait long for their third.
In the 66th minute, Deny Singh found Gutierrez, whose first touch was perfect as he deceived his marker, made space and fired in for his brace.
Seven minutes later, Churchill were celebrating again as Rafiq unleashed a powerful shot which hit the post, rebounded off keeper Sarkar and entered the goal.
Gutierrez was just about to be substituted when the Colombian striker completed his hat-trick with a delightful long ranger in the 78th minute.
There was still more action as Marcos received back-to-back cautions and was sent off. The match referee awarded the third penalty of the day after Lajong’s Aman Ahlawat brought down substitute Lekay, who went on to convert the spot kick.
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