I-League: Churchill turn focus on Aizawl to get campaign back on track

Panaji: Churchill Brothers FC cannot afford any more slip ups with eight rounds left to be played in the I-League. The two-time champions have dropped points on two occasions against bottom-placed sides in the last three home games.

Churchill first drew 1-1 with SC Bengaluru and then settled for a 2-2 draw against Delhi FC, both at home, before securing a 2-1 win against Gokulam Kerala.

Head coach Dimitrios Dimitriou has asked his team for consistency as they face Aizawl FC away on Monday, 7pm.

Churchill are top with 27 points from 14 games, just two ahead of second-placed Namdhari, who face Real Kashmir FC. Inter Kashi are third on 23 points.

“Aizawl FC have been promoting Indian players and have a very good team. Aizawl are in a position they shouldn’t have been,” said Dimitriou on Sunday.

Aizawl have been rooted at the bottom of the standings on 10 points, same as Delhi.

Aizawl are winless in their last four games and come into the fixture after a 0-3 defeat against Inter Kashi at home.

In the first leg in Goa, Churchill scored a comfortable 6-0 win against Aizawl, but Dimitriou is wary of them.

“I never underestimate anybody. I would say that football is a game of 90 minutes plus extra time that is there now. If there is no hard work of the highest standard, you cannot be competitive.

“In order to be competitive, recover from mistakes we made in the last game against Delhi where we didn’t manage to get three points. I hope against Aizawl we are competitive and will play our game the way we want to play to reach our target,” said Dimitriou.

Churchill's strength is in their foreigners. There are good homegrown players as well like Stendly Fernandes, Anil Gaonkar, Trijoy Dias, but South African Wayde Lekay and Ghanaian Rafiq Aminu are definitely leading from the front.

Wayde is on nine goals and will want to extend his tally and get back as the league’s top scorer, currently occupied by Shillong Lajong’s Douglas Rosa Tardin (11).

On the other hand, Aizawl are banking on home support to get the job done.

“We have been working hard as a team. All the next eight matches are very important for us. They (Churchill) have good foreigners and Indian players also. It's going to be tough and I hope I will get something out of this,” said Aizawl coach Victor Lalbiakmawia.