I-League: TRAU edge past Sudeva Delhi 3-2, seal top 6 spot

Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) edged past Sudeva Delhi FC 3-2, and sealed their spot in the top six of the I-League at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium on Sunday.

Nandakumar Singh's side came back twice from a goal down before finding the winner in the 82nd minute.

In what was an end-to-end start, the best chance of the opening exchanges fell to TRAU in the ninth minute as Bidyashagar Singh latched on to Shaabhaaz's pass from the wing, only to see his shot from inside the box being saved by Sachin Jha. TRAU seemed to be the better attacking side, but it was Sudeva which took the shock lead in the 17th minute.

William Pauliankhum cut in from the right flank before sending a curling shot into the left bottom corner from just inside the area to put Sudeva ahead. TRAU showed urgency and came close with Tursunov on the 25th minute. However, the striker failed to find the target.

TRAU kept pushing, and they found their equaliser on the 36th minute when Bidyashagar Singh tapped in Joseph Olaleye's cross from the right into an empty net.

However, Sudeva went ahead once again in the Sudeva took in the 41st minute. TRAU failed to clear their lines as Abhishek Ambekar's cross fetched a weak clearance from Dinesh Singh. The ball fell perfectly in the path of Shubho Paul, the youngest player on the pitch, slotted it past Soram Poirei. Sudeva went into half time with a 2-1 lead.

TRAU continued to attack and levelled the scores for the second time as Phalguni Singh headed Shahbaaz's delightful cross past Sachin Jha in the Sudeva goal. Spurred by the goal, TRAU came with a surge of attacks in the next ten minutes, lead by their Tajik forward Tursunov.

The game died down for a bit, as both teams entered the middle of the second half, which was dominated by substitutions and a few stoppages. However, the TRAU kept pushing and Joseph Olaleye won them the match on the 82nd minute after Sachin Jha spilt Tursunov's shot from close range.

Sudeva had a sighter in the third minute of added time, but Manvir Singh's overhead kick did not have the power to beat Soram Poirei.

--IANS

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