I-League Saturday report: Shivajians trounce Mumbai 5-0; Minerva spoil Aizwal's party

Courtesy Twitter (@ILeagueOfficial)

Pune/Ludhiana: DSK Shivajians thrashed Mumbai Football Club 5-0, while leaders Aizawl FC were held to a 2-2 draw by struggling Minerva Punjab FC in their respective I-League matches on Saturday.

In Pune, Holicharan Narzary's (18th and 30th) first-half strikes put the hosts Shivajians in the driving seat, and Sanju Pradhan (48th), Lallianzuala Chhangte (67th) and Jerry Mawihmingthanga (83th) found the target in the second half as Shivajians recorded their biggest win this season.

Mumbai coach Santosh Kashyap made one change to his starting lineup from the side's previous outing against Mohun Bagan. An injured Thoi Singh was replaced by Brazilian Anderson Raimundo da Silva.

DSK Shivajians made three changes, as three attack-minded players were introduced by manager David Rogers as Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Sanju Pradhan and Sumeet Passi started for the hosts.

The Maharashtra derby started off in a pretty unusual manner with both teams displaying little control and precision when circulating the ball.

The gaps began to appear, all over the park. The hosts utilised most of the opportunities presented, testing Kattimani time-and-again in the Mumbai goal.

Holicharan Narzary found himself with space and time to measure a volley past the Mumbai goalkeeper to give the hosts an early lead on 15 minutes.

In the aftermath of the opener, Santosh Kashyap reacted quickly and made a substitution, replacing Clyde Fernandes for the experienced Steven Dias in an attempt to get themselves back into the match.

DSK Shivajians grew their confidence in the match, dominating possession and creating chances at will.

Mumbai could not string together any passes to cause real damage to their opposition, failing to penetrate through or create positive moments in the match.

As the game approached the half hour mark, Sanju Pradhan and Juan Quero combined well down the right, to set up Narzary for his second goal of the match in 27 minutes.

As the first-half of the match came to a closure, DSK Shivajians seemed to have had a firm grip on the game with a 2-0 lead. Mumbai had a half to forget.

Matters went from bad to worse for Santosh Kashyap's side, when the home team scored their third goal just three minutes into the second half. Sanju Pradhan found his name on the scoresheet, after some neat combination play with Quero.

Lallianzuala Chhangte, DSK Shivajians' second-half substitute, scored in 67th minute, collecting the ball from the halfway line and scoring with a delicate finish past Kattimani's right to make it 4-0 for the hosts.

Jerry Mawihmingthanga made good use of his pace to take full advantage of the space behind Mumbai's defence and score DSK Shivajians' fifth goal of the match in 83 minutes.

In Ludhiana, struggling Minerva put up a brilliant display to hold table toppers Aizawl to a 2-2 draw.

Mahmoud Al-Amna (43rd minute) opened scoring for Aizawl and Lalthakima (56th) doubled the lead before drama unfolded at the Guru Nanak Stadium.

Loveday (61st) pulled one back for Minerva after the hour-mark and Kareem Nurain (81st) levelled the scoreline.

In the first half, Minerva Punjab had more possession of the ball and Aizawl FC struggled to capitalise on their opposition's follies.

Aizawl brought in their Under-22 player Lalthamika in place of Kingsley who is undergoing suspension at the moment. Aizawl broke the deadlock in the first half after Jayesh's through ball found Al-Amna who slotted home the goal for the visitors.

In the second half, Aizawl FC came up much stronger and more organised with Al-Amna and Alfred Jaryan dictating play in the attacking third.

Aizawl utilised their set pieces well from their dead ball specialist Jayesh Rane and found Kamo Bayi who made no mistake to put the ball past the Minerva Custodian Arnab Das.

Minerva came back into the game in the last quarter after Kareem's set piece was put into the goal by Loveday leaving Albino Gomes stranded.

Minutes later, Kareem scored a brilliant free-kick to deny the visitors three points.

Following the draw, Aizawl FC have 30 points from 14 matches whereas Minerva Punjab FC have 12 points from equal number of matches.