I-League: Sreenidi Deccan return to winning ways with a victory against Aizawl FC

Sreenidi Deccan sit at the eighth spot in the I-League 2024-25 table.

Sreenidi Deccan FC piled on the sorrow for a hapless Aizawl FC, beating them 3-0 at the Deccan Arena on Monday, February 3, 2025 in I-League 2024-25. The win improved Sreenidi’s position on the table by one place as they rose to eighth with 15 points, six clear of the relegation zone.

The Deccan Warriors also recorded their first clean sheet of the season. Aizawl, meanwhile, remained in 10th place, level on nine points with fellow strugglers SC Bengaluru and Delhi FC.

The battle between two porous defences was always going to be decided by which one went ahead first, and the home side left that aspect in no doubt, surging ahead as early as the fifth minute. From a free-kick on the right wing, the ball was swung into the far post, bypassing the entirety of Aizawl’s ball-watching defence. Defender Gurmukh Singh, unmarked, slammed in the volley from five yards away. As calamitous as it was, Aizawl’s day was only going to get worse.

Despite doing more with the ball, the visitors were outmatched in midfield and often the masters of their own destruction. The second goal by Lalrowmawia came in the 25th minute, the winger picking up William Alves’ backheel pass in the right channel and then slamming a shot from a tight angle towards the goal. Goalkeeper Md. Rafique Ali Sardar, making his debut for the Reds, probably should’ve done better covering it as the ball went in at his near post.  

David Castañeda added a third for the home side in the 33rd minute, rising above Aizawl’s defenders to head in Hardik Bhatt’s cross. The visitors had recorded more passes, held more possession and moved the ball around better, but mostly to no avail.

Aizawl’s midfield performed significantly better in the second half, even if they lacked finesse in the final third to make much of it. Sreenidi were keen to protect their clean sheet — having not held one at all this season — and put bodies behind the ball, preferring to play on the counter. Their speedy wingbacks in particular were often the ones linking up play, Abhishek Ambekar from one end, complementing Bhatt’s speed on the other.        

Aizawl’s best chance came in the final minute of time, when Lalawmpuia Sailo slammed a curling freekick on target, only for a diving Aryan Lamba to punch it clear. Deep in injury time, a rampant Lalchungnunga took the ball on the right, cut in once at the top of the box, and let fly with his left foot. Rafique made amends for his earlier error to palm it away and save Aizawl’s blushes, even if, by then the points had long been sacrificed.  

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