I-League: Churchill Brothers register first win, Real Kashmir continue to shine

Real Kashmir FC picked up their second win in their third match of the season when they beat Delhi FC, whereas Churchill Brothers notched their first win of the season against SC Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Real Kashmir jumped up to the top position with a win

Despite a goalless first half, Real Kashmir FC beat Delhi FC 2-1 at the TRC Football Turf. Bouba Aminou (72’) and Lalramdinsanga Ralte (84’) scored for the hosts, and Stephane Binong scored a consolidation goal for Delhi FC.

Ishfaq Ahmed-coached Real Kashmir FC, who have played all their matches at home so far, have seven points from three matches, while Delhi FC suffered their second consecutive defeat to remain with the only point they earned from the drawn against Namdhari FC.

Off-the-ball incidents generated more excitement in the first half than the actual game. Delhi FC goalkeeper Debnath Mondal was in the news for the wrong reasons.

On one occasion, the lanky goalkeeper left his charge and reached the opposite area to argue with the referee on a free-kick decision and returned to his position with a yellow card.

The next time Mondal dangerously left his area in an attempt to foil a rival striker. He got beaten, and only a goalline clearance by a defender saved the moment for the visiting side.

Mondal, however, also had his skills in place when he negotiated well with a couple of long rangers.

The 27-year-old finally ran out of luck in the 72nd minute when Cameroonian Bouba Aminou headed home from close.

It was a move that was initiated by Aminou himself from the left, and after a few passes, a long ball traveled from the right at the Delhi FC goalmouth for Aminou, who, by then, had taken his position at the right place to head it in.

The second goal came in the 84th minute. This time, Delhi FC's defense was caught napping when a through pass found Lalramdinsanga Ralte in the open. The agile midfielder took the best advantage of it and ran through to beat the goalkeeper.

Some excitement was injected into the game when substitute Cameroonian Stephane Samir Binong pulled one back for Delhi FC.

However, instead of a Delhi FC revival, it was Real Kashmir FC, who earned a penalty during the eight-minute add-on time. It was missed by Senegalese recruit Abdou Karim Samb.

Overall, the chances were few and far between for both teams. While Real Kashmir looked more comfortable in the temperature hovering around 9 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, Delhi FC, fresh from their 1-5 drubbing against Inter Kashi, managed to even the exchange rates in midfield.

SC Bengaluru conceded a defeat in their first home game

Churchill Brothers notched their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory against SC Bengaluru at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Churchill made a come-from-behind victory after trailing 0-1 after 15 minutes.

With this result, the Red Machines have now moved to four points from three matches, while SC Bengaluru remain bottom of the pile, having lost all their games thus far. They are the only team yet to score a point in the ongoing I-League season so far.

Spaniard Jordan Lamela (12’) gave the newly-promoted SC Bengaluru some hope early on, giving them the lead. However, the Churchill Brothers were quick to bounce back in the game.

Colombian Sebastian Gutierrez (25’) equalized in the first half itself, before Senegalese midfielder Pape Alassane Gassama (38’) converted a penalty minutes before the half-time whistle.

Wayde Lekay (81’) scored his third goal in as many matches, in the closing stages, to put the match beyond any doubt.

The South African forward is now the joint-top scorer of the league with Inter Kashi’s Moroccan striker Domingo Berlanga, who scored a hat-trick against Delhi FC on Sunday.