Shillong: Sporting Clube de Goa FC defeated home favourite Shillong Lajong FC 1-0 in the 22nd round of the I-League match played on Saturday.
The solitary goal came from the man-of-the-match, Adil Khan, in the 70th minute of the game when he fired a shot from inside the box, hit a bar and went past Lajong`s keeper Ralte.
Lajong dominated the game in terms of ball possession, but failed to convert a number times in the first half. With a clear chance to equalise in the 89th minute of the game, Australian striker of Lajong, Mayora`s shot from within the box hit the bar and missed the goal.
As in its last match with Chirag Uniter Kerala, Lajong was also seen not their usual self. Striker Mayora was totally off-colour while mid fielders James Giblee and Sushil Kumar were listless for quite some time.
Lajong, who eyed 40 points at the end of the season clearly missed two easy opportunities giving away three points to Chirag and Sporting.
Lajong`s Coach Pradyum Reddy admitted, "There was lack of movement by some of the players."
He said he was yet to ascertain whether it was fatique on their part or some other reason.
At 27 points from 22 matches, Reddy said his team did not have to fear for relegation this season, yet the 40 points is too far to reach.
Sporting`s coach S E Singh could not be more happy to earn full points from an away match.
"Losing or winning is part of the game, but what is most important is that we won an away-from-home match," he said.
Commenting on the high-possession football that Lajong displayed, Singh said, "Percentage of possession doesn`t count at the end in football. It is the number of goals scored that matters."
He, however, said he "respected" Lajong for their display of skills and quality football.
With this win, Sporting has 34 points in its kitty, 12 points away from table topper Dempo SC, and is placed at number eight spot in the I-League table.
On the other hand, after this round, Lajong is stuck at number eight position in the table.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 31, 2012, 19:14