Ludhiana: Riding on Bhutanese Chencho Gyeltshen’s late goal, Minerva Punjab continued their unscathed run, defeating Indian Arrows 1-0 at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Monday. Facing a spirited team that played like they had nothing to lose, the ‘Warriors’ found it tough going until CG7 as they fondly call Chencho in Bhutan, decided to take matters in his own hands scoring from a brilliant solo effort in the 80th minute.
Both the sides made two changes from their their previous match, as Minerva completely dominated possession hitting the upright twice in the first 15 minutes. Outplayed on most occasions Arrows were forced to defend deep with goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh forced into making two back-to-back saves in the 42nd minute. William Opku aho scored a brace the last time both sides met, kept piling up the pressure with a few long range shots on target.
A better game for the Arrows after the break, giving them some time to keep more possession Arrows however failed to test the opposition goalie, with only Rahul Kannoly coming close to scoring one for the team before Rakshit Dagar came to the rescue.
Kassim Aidara nearly scored on the other end before Chencho put one five minutes later. A glorious run that saw him beat both Boris and Deepak before rifling one with his right foot, into the net. That one moment of individual brilliance mattered in the end as Minerva ran out the winners, their fourth in five games, the other ending in a 1-1 draw against Bagan at home.