Shillong: William Opoku Asiedu’s 58th minute strike helped Minerva Punjab extend it’s unbeaten run in the league to three matches, with another impressive 1-0 win over Shillong Lajong, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
The win also meant the Chandigarh based club now has 22 points from nine matches, four closer of second placed East Bengal who has played the same number of matches. Just second season into the I-League and Minerva has taken the competition by a surprise. The ‘Warriors’ have so far lost just one game that came against defending champions Aizwal FC away from home.
Chencho Gyltshen, one of the club’s potent weapon in it’s fairy-tale campaign made a great run on the left flank beating Novin Gurung for pace before squaring the ball up for Opoku in the box, who did the needful tap-in to hand Minerva a vital three points, their seventh this season.
It was the hosts however who had started better, coming close to scoring in the opening minute itself when Hardy Cliff Nongbri’s long ball into the box found Aiman Al-Hagri one-on-one with Minerva custodian Rakshit Dagar. But the former’s clumsiness allowed Dagar to snatch it away from him.
In a closely fought match that was fast paced throughout the 90 minutes, Dagar proved Minerva’s saviour putting up some close saves, one among which denied Alen Deory a certain goal. His shot after a huge deflection from one of the visitors’ defender looked well on it’s course to the net, before the Punjabi custodian intervened to keep his side alive in the 18th minute.
But if the first-half had Lajong dominating the visitors with repeated strides at goal, Minerva took control in the second, eventually winning the match. Their attacks pushed the home side deep into their own-half allowing them to up the ante something they were happily obliged to do so.
They reaped the reward in the 58th minute when Opoku’s powerful shot from inside the box entered the net, silencing the otherwise ostentatious home crowd.
Lajong though had their chances to equalise two minutes after conceding but Dagar once again stood up parrying away a Abdoulaye Koffi header. It was then a double chance at the 80th minute that went bagging, first from a Redeem Tlnag shot that was straight at the goalkeeper, followed by Laurence Doe header from the resulting corner that was kept out by Dagar again.
But when Koffi skied his effort from a close range shot in the 87th minute, it was Lajong’s best chance to level terms and failure to do so earned Minerva their third successive win and seventh overall, taking them inches close to clinching their first ever league title.