I-League: Mohun Bagan beat Shillong 2-0 for second straight win

Mohun Bagan rode on a brace from striker Darryl Duffy to beat Shillong Lajong 2-0 and claim their second consecutive win in the I-League football tournament here on Friday.

Duffy (21st and 77th minutes) scored on either side of halftime to star for the city football giants in a match the home side dominated throughout.

Bagan now have six points from two matches, having beaten Churchill Brothers 1-0 in their opening match of the tournament.

They made two changes in the starting line-up with Shouvik Ghosh and Raynier Fernandes coming in place of suspended Subhashish Bose and Kean Lewis respectively.

Lajong also made a couple of changes, Redeem Tlang and Hardy Cliff making way for Zodingliana Ralte and former Asier Pierrick Dipanda.

Duffy scored with a wonderful left-footer from inside the box in the 21st minute, latching on to a Kingshuk Debnath cross-field aerial pass to hand the hosts an early lead after sustained spell of dominance.

Lajong got a couple of chances with Bipin Singh and Fabio Pena coming close. But it was all Bagan who went into the break with a 1-0 lead.

The visitors mustered a chance in the opening minute of the second period with Dipanda heading wide from close range.

Balwant got two chances as well at the other end with Souvik Chakraborty and Pritam Kotal setting the scorer of the previous game up twice.

Bagan doubled their lead in the 77th minute. Duffy was in the thick of things again, slotting home from a tight angle off Balwant's layoff after substitute Pronay Halder crossed inside the area.

Meanwhile in Aizawl, hosts Aizawl FC defeated Minerva Punjab FC 1-0 thanks to a last-gasp own goal by defender Loveday Okechukwu.

The match remained goalless until the fourth minute of second half added time when when Loveday miscued his header to score an own goal from a corner taken by Aizawl's Mahmoud Al-Amna.

Aizawl approached the match on the back of a 1-1 draw against East Bengal while Minerva played out a 0-0 draw with Chennai City FC.

Aizawl defender Lalruatthara showed his worth in the match negating Minerva's attacking threat throughout the match.

They were the superior side in the first half but failed to penetrate Minerva's defence. Aizawl forward Alfred Jaryan's shot was saved by Minerva goalkeeper Ravi Kumar.

Syrian international Mahmoud Al-Amna challenged Ravi Kumar minutes later with a shot close range shot which was blocked.

Jayesh Rane's shot hit the bar minutes before the first half ended, failing to give the home team a much-desired lead.

The decisive moment came in the added time when Mahmoud Al-Amna took a corner kick which was headed into their own goal by the lanky Loveday Okechukwu.

--IANS

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