Lajong beat Chennai 2-0 for third home win in a row

Shillong Lajong notched up their third home win on the trot by beating Chennai City FC 2-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here today.
Dipanda Dicka started from where he left in the last match against Mumbai FC getting the hosts an early breakthrough in the 20th minute and following it up with another goal in the 65th minute.
There was no respite in sight for Chennai who were left doing the defending job for the most part of the match as the hosts held firm to the proceedings.
That the Marcos Vinicius and Charles De Souza combination never got going for Chennai also helped the cause of the hosts who looked the fitter of the two sides.

The victory took Lajong to a nine points from six matches while Chennai remain static at four points.
Buoyed by two wins on the trot at home against Minerva Punjab and Mumbai FC, Lajong started the proceedings on a dominant note looking to control the game from the outset.

The first real chance came Lajong's way when Dipanda crossed one back to Redeem Tlang from far right only to see the local forward smash it to the goalie to enforce a rebound.
Five minutes later, following an excellent assist from Issac, Dipanda headed one into the net from inside as the sizeable crowd at the stadium went into raptures.

In the 25th minute, Lajong had a shy at the Chennai goal twice but were unlucky on both occasions as the ball was somehow cleared in the melee.
Chennai did look like making a comeback towards the fag end of the first half but some solid defending by Lajong kept them at bay at half time even as a couple of balls flew over the crossbar.
After resumption, Marcos wasted a decent opportunity to secure Chennai the equaliser when he lost control of the ball inside the box in the face of a diving Vishal Kaith.
Chennai coach Robin Raja brought in Denson Devadas in place of Sena but Lajong seemed unperturbed.

Five minutes after the hour mark, Dipanda virtually took the game away from the visitors by smashing one into the nets from close range after being fed inside by a free kick which was left uncleared.
Chennai's efforts thereafter to stage a comeback bore no results as the hosts romped home to another victory.
What was probably more relieved to Lajong coach Singto was the fact that his side could finally maintain a clean sheet.