Delhi: Indian Arrows registered their second win of the I-League defeating Shillong Lajong 3-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Tuesday. Nongdamba Naorem scored the goal of the season so far, while Jitendra Singh and Rahul Kannoly added another two to collect all three points.
Playing without their head coach Luis Norton de Matos who is out of town, assistant coach Floyd Pinto got his tactics spot on making as many as six changes into the starting line-up as Arrows dominated after the proceedings from the minute go, with some neat passes among themselves to open up the Lajong defence.
In a battle between two of the youngest teams in the league, Lajong played most of the second-half with 10 men after substite Lalrohlua saw his second yellow in the span of five minutes.
While Arrows continued to dominate possession, the first chance of the game however fell to Lajong in the 16th minute when skipper Samuel found Abdoulaye Koffi with a perfect through ball, whose shot was too nimb to threaten opposition custodian Dheeraj Singh.
Arrows’ persistence finally paid of three minutes later when Sanjeev Stalin earned a free-kick inside the visitor’s half before finding Amarjit Singh with a quick pass. The skipper than threaded the ball to Jitendra who slotted it home giving his side an early lead into the match.
The home team continued to maintain their high passing game as Long found it tough to crave out a clear chance going into the break.
Lajong skipper Samuel Lalmuanpuia who had passed the fitness test just before the encounter had to be substituted after limping off with Nongbet bringing on midfielder Lalrohlua.
The youngster’s time in the ground was however cut short after he earned two back-to-back yellow cards in the span of five minutes.
A goal and a man down after 62 minutes, Lajong struggled to create chances as Arrows took full advantage of the opponent’s hapless state to ship-in two more, into the net.
Nongdamba Naorem who had replaced Abhijit Sarkar in the 76th minute, soon etched his name into the scoresheet after cutting past five defenders from the left flank to put the ball inside an empty net.
Apart from his tactics assistant coach Pinto’s substitutions were also spot on as another substitute Rahul Kannoly added the final nail in the coffin with a low shot from the edge of the box to clinch all three points from the AIFF developmental team.
The win also propelled the Arrows into the sixth position with as many points from five outings, while Lajong remained fourth with 10 points from seven matches.