Inter Kashi came from behind to snatch 3 points from Sreenidi Deccan at Kalyani Stadium while SC Bengaluru and Namdhari FC played out a goalless draw at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Friday.
The I-League is now going for the winter break until next year which means that Churchill Brothers will finish the year at the top of the league table, closely followed by Inter Kashi at second.
Inter Kashi displays second-half spark to win the year-ender
Mario Barco’s return from injury marked a spectacular evening as he scored a brace to spearhead Inter Kashi’s 3-1 comeback victory over Sreenidi Deccan in the year’s last match of the I-League 2024-25 at Kalyani Stadium on Friday.
Following a first-half deficit, Barco’s goals in the 47th and 59th minutes reignited the hosts, with Joni Kauku sealing the win in the final moments. Sreenidi Deccan initially took the lead through David Castenada Munoz at the 33rd-minute mark.
The game was not without its dramas, as a floodlight failure caused a 21-minute suspension in the 18th minute, and Inter Kashi later found themselves a man down after Karthik Panicker received his marching orders in the 84th minute.
These incidents set the stage for a thrilling contest, reflecting the intense drive of Antonio Lopez Habas’s team to bounce back from recent setbacks including two draws and a loss.
The win took Inter Kashi to the second spot in the league standings with 11 points in six games. The Deccan Warriors, on the other hand, suffered their second consecutive loss and occupy the 11th position in the points table with six points from six games.
It was Sreenidi Deccan, though, who took the lead in the 33rd minute. Faysal Shayesteh delivered a corner from the left and Castenada used his strength to good effect to rise above the Inter Kashi defenders and head home a beautiful goal.
However, Inter Kashi’s response was swift and fierce. They nearly equalised minutes later when a deflected shot hit the woodwork. The persistence paid off early in the second half when Edmund Lalrindika’s corner from the left found Barco, who smartly flicked it past the crowded Sreenidi Deccan defence to level the score.
The momentum shifted firmly in favour of Inter Kashi in the 59th minute. A sequence of attacks culminated in a penalty when Kauko’s forceful shot was parried by goalkeeper Ubaid CK, only for Lalrindika to be fouled by Emboklang Nongkhlaw during the follow-up.
Barco confidently converted the penalty, giving his team the lead with a shot into the top right corner, leaving Ubaid with no chance.
Inter Kashi was reduced to 10 men in the 84th minute when Panicker was shown the second yellow card of the match for his demonstrations after the referee Shantan Agarwal refused to award a penalty to Inter Kashi.
Sensing that they could make use of the numerical advantage, Sreenidi Deccan tried to fight back. But Inter Kashi’s defence, led by goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja, stood resolute.
The final nail in the coffin was delivered by Kauko. Lalrindika released Kauko with a through ball before the midfielder struck a potent right-footed shot to secure a critical win for his team.
SC Bengaluru and Namdhari end the year with a goalless draw
SC Bengaluru and Namdhari FC played out a goalless draw at the Bangalore Football Stadium in Round 6 of the I-League 2024-25 on Friday.
The shared points left SC Bengaluru rooted to the bottom of the table, while Namdhari, playing their first away match, registered their second successive clean sheet of the season.
Despite the gap between the sides on the I-League table, it was the hosts who were thoroughly dominant right from the start of the game. As a team, they had scored more goals than Namdhari, even if they were wildly profligate in front of it here.
Their lack of composure in the final third let them down and is not threatening to become a theme for their season.
In the first half, the best chance fell to Thomyo Shimray in the 11th minute after a horrible error from goalkeeper Jaspreet Singh. The Namdhari shot-stopper spilled a routine cross into the six-yard area, and Shimray, after having done the hard work of jostling for the ball and position, shot high.
Namdhari wasn’t entirely outplayed though and as has been their wont, were always threatening with the long ball as well as on the counter. In the 33rd minute, Akashdeep Singh’s header drifted just wide from a corner, when left unmarked, he would have been expected to slot it in.
The pattern of play remained unchanged in the second half, with SC Bengaluru easily bypassing the Namdhari midfield only to encounter defensive resistance and their own timidity in the final third.
Their wingers in particular routinely put good crosses into the box, but with no one able to convert them into attempts at goal.
Bengaluru’s profligacy gave Namdhari belief in taking the points from the game and they had the best chances to do so in the second period, Manvir Singh forcing two outstanding saves from Bishal Lama to keep parity. The first was a half chance created entirely by the forward who volleyed a shot from a sharp angle inside the box, Lama diving to tip it over.
The second arrived in injury time, when a free-kick from the left found its way through the entirety of Bengaluru’s defence, to Manvir lurking at the far post.
Five yards from the goal, he tried to lob the keeper. Lama had made himself big and blocked the attempt away. It was the last real chance to break free and Namdhari had been denied. The teams split the spoils.
Comments are closed.