UTORDA: Minerva Punjab got the better of Churchill Brothers 5-0 in their Nike Premier Cup 2018 group stage finals held, at the Utorda Sports Complex, on Wednesday.
Minerva Punjab dominated from the first half.
Nameirakpam Ajitkumar Meetei managed to finish off an attacking move created by the Punjab side as the game was into the 15th minute.
Minerva were passing it around and they scored again in the 17th minute of the game. This time, it was Benjohnson Moirangthem Singh.
Churchill Brothers did have their own chances to open their account.
Aaron Rodrigues in particular had a great goal scoring opportunity but couldn’t find the net.
Mevan Shawn Dias also came close for Churchill as they were pushing to get back into the game.
But their defence kept letting them down. A late pressure from Churchill saw Kartik Nayyar get into the booking. Leading 2-0, Minerva shuffled things up in the second half.
Goalscorer Benjohnson Singh was replaced by Arjun Sharma in the 46th minute.
Kartik who was on a booking also made way for Pradum Kumar as they made two changes early into the second half.
The changes paid off with Arjun finding the net in the 58th minute of the game. Churchill Brothers were still not able to work out a way to get back into the game. Arjun scored again in the 65th minute that all but secured victory and full points. But there was time for one more goal as Hemam Singh scored in the 80th minute as they secured the fifth goal.
Towards the end of the game, there were some nervy moments as Jaskrenvir Singh and Prince Kumar picked up yellow cards.
But the game was already won as Minerva put in yet another dominant performance.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC also ran out as winners in their game against SAI Guwahati after a late goal by Francis Vanlaldika in the 83rd minute.
SAI Guwahati were down to 10-men after Gopal Gorth picked up two yellow cards in the game.
