I-League Football: Rajasthan United FC suffer first home defeat as Sreenidi Deccan win 2-1

Jaipur: Riding high on their brilliant home run this season, Rajasthan United Football Club (RUFC) suffered their first defeat when Sreenidi Deccan edged past the local team 2-1 at the Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium here on Wednesday. The narrow loss ended the RUFC's 10-match unbeaten streak in the ongoing season.
Hosts had their chances particularly in the first half but could not convert their ball possession into goals as the southern side shattered the hopes of the home team with some inspired display.
Midway through the first session, RUFC had a golden chance to take the lead, but the striker's rasping shot hit the post leaving their fans dejected.
Just when it looked like the first half would remain goalless, the visitors struck in the 43rd minute through Angel Orelien, who tapped the ball
on the right corner of the net beating outstretched arms of RUFC goalkeeper B Malla Thakuri.
After the change of ends, both teams came close to scoring goal, but lack of finishing undid their efforts.
In the 73rd minute, foreign forward David Castaneda Munoz increased the lead for Sreenidi Deccan with an excellent attack.
Trailing by a couple of goals, RUFC were under tremendous pressure to deliver. Their ace centre-forward Maicol Cabrera raised the hope of a fightback by reducing the deficit in the 75th minute.
Cabrera climbed high between two Sreenidi Deccan defenders to turn a cross from the right into the back of the net with his head.
After Cabrera's goal, RUFC launched several attacks on the rival citadel but could not penetrate the strong defence wall of Sreenidi Deccan.
Despite the win, the Deccan Warriors remained ninth place on the table with 19 points from 15 matches. The RUFC, with 21 points from the same number of games, held onto seventh place.
RUFC will play their next match on February 24 at the same venue.
The match was graced by chief guest IAS Neeraj K Pawan, state secretary of sports. Other dignitaries present included RUFC chairman KK Tak, director Roshni Tak, deputy commandant Ranjeet Singh and Yogesh Boir from SAI. Pragya Saini, Bhopal Singh Bhati, Trilok Khandelwal, Bollywood celebrities Jojo and RJ Abhi also added glamour to the occasion with their presence.