Gujarat down Lakshdweep in Santosh Trophy West Zone Qualifiers
After two straight defeats Gujarat registered their first win in the qualifiers.
Gujarat came from a goal down to secure a hard-fought 3-1 win over Lakshadweep in the Santosh Trophy West Zone Qualifiers 2019 Group A match, played at Duler Stadium here on Thursday.
The Island side should have taken the lead in the very first minute when their forward Abdull Nazar made a run on the wing and sent a cross to Nasarulla in the box but the striker saw his goalbound header saved by Gujarat keeper Levi Francis.
Gujarat also came close to scoring in the 15th minute when Pavan Ramanuj tried to find his teammate Ayaan Shaikh in the goalmouth with a cross but Lakshadweep defender Darvesh Khan cleared the danger on time. On the counter-attack, Lakshadweep almost took the lead as forward Nasarulla made a swift run and went for the glory from just inside the box but Gujarat keeper Levi smartly flicked it over the crossbar for a corner.
However, in the 18th minutes, the Island side surged ahead as this time Nasarulla took advantage of the misunderstanding between Gujarat keeper Levi and defender and sent a lob shot in the net to make it 1-0.
A few minutes later, Lakshadweep had a chance to double their lead as Mohammed Thafruque found Anwar NP with a low cross whose stiff grounder was divingly pushed for a corner by Gujarat keeper Levi.
At the other end, Gujarat were awarded a penalty kick in the 27th minutes when Lakshadweep keeper Mohammed Mubarak made a rough tackle on Gujarat striker Jignesh where referee MG Prabhakaran gave a marching order to the custodian with a direct red card. Gujarat forward Pavan calmly finished the ball in the net from the spot to make it all square for his side.
Pumped-up by an equaliser, Gujarat took the lead in the 39th minute as Ayaan brilliantly cut past a defender in the box and clinically finished the ball in the back of the nylons making it 2-1.
On crossing over, almost extended their lead in the 54th minute as Ayaan went for the glory from the top of the box but his goalbound strike was pushed for safety by the rival keeper Mohammed Salahudheen. A few minutes later, Ayaan had another chance to inflate the lead but this time also keeper Salahudheen came with a breathtaking save to deny the midfielder. However, he managed to complete his brace in the added time with a neat goal after getting a through pass from Vinay Sharma.
[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]Whereas Lakshadweep also had a chance to level back in the added time but Mohammed Akram shot over the crossbar from just inside the box.
In the other match, Services blanked Daman & Diu by a 2-0 margin as Sreyas VG scored in the 72nd minute, while D&D defender Pawan Gurav scored an own goal in the very next minute to ensure a win for the Services.
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