I-League: David Castaneda writes a saga in Sreenidi Deccan's epic win

The resilient Sreenidi Deccan made an iconic comeback from three goals down to clinch a narrow win against Aizawl FC in a 7-goal thriller while Rajsthan United edged past SC Bengaluru on Thursday.

Castaneda's magic scripts an epic comeback win for Sreenidi Deccan

David Castenada Munoz scored a hat-trick to help Sreenidi Deccan FC stage a remarkable comeback as they overturned a 0-3 deficit to snatch a 4-3 victory against Aizawl FC in a thrilling I-League 2024-25 away encounter at the RG Stadium on Thursday, January 9, 2025.

The match was a tale of two halves with Aizawl FC appearing poised for a comfortable win after establishing a three-goal lead thanks to strikes from Lalbiakdika, Zothanpuia, and Lalrinzuala Lalbiaknia.

However, Sreenidi Deccan dramatically altered the course of the game, thanks largely to the pivotal introduction of Panama recruit Angel Gabriel Orelien in the second half and the prolific performance of Castenada. For Sreenidi Deccan, William Oliveira scored the other goal.

The win also halted Sreenidi Deccan’s sequence of three consecutive losses and lifted them to eighth place in the league standings with nine points from seven games. Aizawl’s inability to maintain their 3-0 lead saw their winless streak extend to five matches, leaving them in 11th place in the standings with just six points from seven games.

The match began with Sreenidi Deccan creating an opportunity in the 21st minute when Rosenberg Gabriel’s precise cross found an unmarked Castenada inside the box. Aizawl goalkeeper Joel B Lalramchhana, though, rushed out and fouled Castenada, conceding a penalty. However, Castenada failed to capitalise, by sending his penalty high over the bar.

While Sreenidi Deccan missed chances, Aizawl grew into the game and took the lead in the 37th minute. Zothanpuia’s brilliant pass released Lalbiakdika, who sprinted past the defense and fired a powerful shot over the advancing Sreenidi Deccan goalkeeper Ubaid CK.

This was followed by another goal just five minutes later, with Zothanpuia capitalizing on a defensive error by Eli Sabia to double Aizawl’s lead.

Aizawl’s momentum continued into the second half and they added a third goal in the 58th minute. Lalbiakdika’s precise pass set up Lalrinzuala Lalbiaknia, who made no mistake from close range, seemingly putting the match beyond Sreenidi Deccan’s reach.

However, the introduction of Angel Gabriel Orelien invigorated Sreenidi Deccan. They found more purpose to their game and their midfield looked much more dynamic. In the 60th minute, Castenada’s powerful right-footer hit the wooden framework.

But the forward made amends with a strike in the 69th minute. A corner from the right caught Aizawl FC’s defense off-guard, allowing Sreenidi Deccan to quickly pass the ball to Castenada, who fired a powerful shot to score.

The strike was quickly followed by Castenada’s second goal seven minutes later from Orelien’s free-kick. This shifted the momentum decisively and William Oliveira equalized in the 83rd minute from an Orelien cross, setting the stage for a tense finale.

In the dying moments of the match, Sreenidi Deccan completed their comeback. A cross from Abhishek Ambekar was met by Castenada Munoz, who headed in the decisive goal, securing a stunning 4-3 victory.

Rajasthan United’s home run in Jaipur begins with a late flourish

A late flourish of goals saw Rajasthan United FC come back to beat SC Bengaluru 2-1 in their first-ever I-League encounter at the Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium.

Both of Rajasthan’s goals came in injury time, leaving Bengaluru at rock bottom in the table, a point adrift of their nearest challengers having played a game more.

Asif OM (85’) had put the visitors in the lead late in the second half, but Rajasthan dug deep as lightning struck twice in injury time through strikes from Martand Raina (90+3’) and Gerard Artigas (90+6’), whose spot-kick made all the difference in the end.

Jaipur became the latest addition to the list of I-League venues. The All India Football Federation President Shri Kalyan Chaubey was present for the match and interacted with the players ahead of kick-off.

Rajasthan United, with this win, climbed a couple of spots on the I-League table, to sixth, with 10 points from seven matches, while SC Bengaluru remains bottom of the pile with five points from as many games.

Both teams had conceded a combined 23 goals in the league prior to this game, and so, understandably were cautious with their start, focussed more on disrupting any imaginative attacking play than creating it.

The first real chance of the game fell to the hosts’ Lucas Cabral, who spun away from his defender on the right side of the box and cut the ball to the center of the box. An onrushing Naoba could only blast his shot high.

Bishal Lama was certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers in the first half, saving smartly from Cabral and then from William Neihsial’s shot from outside the box. Bengalur’s registered their first shot on target late in the half, a Thomyo Simray attempt easily parried away by James Kithan.

Rajasthan ramped up the ante in the second half, and Cabral, at the heart of most of their attacks, was running riot on the right wing. Having driven in from the right, he took a shot towards the far corner from a tight angle, only to see it bounce off the upright. It seemed like their missed chances would hurt them as the game wore on.

And so it proved, when SC Bengaluru took the lead against the run of play, late in the game. A long throw-in from the left was met with a perfect flick on by Ashish Jha towards the center of the six-yard area. OM Asif made no mistake and slammed his header into the goal, sparking celebrations in their dugout.

Rajasthan only had themselves to blame, but to their credit, did not let their heads drop. Almost immediately, after a melee caused by a cross from the right, Gerard Artigas managed to poke the ball towards goal, only to see it cleared off the line by a defender in yellow. A long period of injury time was to come.

Bengaluru could hold neither their nerve nor the lead, in that nervous end. A defensive error after Neihsial had crossed a hopeful ball into the box, gifted Martand Raina the chance to slam the ball into the net from close range in the third minute of injury time. A few minutes later things got worse for Bengaluru.

Artigas danced his way around two defenders in the left corner of the penalty area, and was brought down illegally just as he seemed to have made his way around them. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

The Spanish forward, nicknamed the Hulk, smashed his spot kick in. It was the last meaningful action of the game as Rajasthan snuck in a victory in their first game at home.