Lajong, Chirag split points in I-League

Shillong: Shillong Lajong FC managed to evade Chirag United`s late resurgence to eke out a 1-1 draw against the visitors in a 23rd round I-League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Lajong scored through Daniel Bidemi (38th minute) to go into the brether with a 1-0 lead. Lajong came tentalisingly close towards securing full points from the encounter, only to be denied by a late equaliser by Edmilson (83rd). Lajong got their first scoring opportunity in the 16th minute when Bidemi set the ball for Anil Gurung inside the danger circle but he failed to failed to collect it cleanly, thereby wasting a fine chance.Lajong finally scored eight minutes from the interval through Bidemi, whon shot the ball home after a brilliant run from the midfield. After the change of ends Chirag pressed hard for the equaliser but it eluded them till the 83rd minute. Referee P K Bose awarded a free kick in favour of the visitors after Aibor Khongjee brought down Edmilson, who made no mistake in finding the back of the Lajong net.Despite having the upper hand, Lajong failed to capitalise on a number of opportunities as the home team continued to struggle with their conversion rate. With today`s result, Lajong moved to the eight position in the table with 26 points, while Chirag is placed fifth with 32 points. PTI