Goal.com
PUNE: Churchill Brothers cruised past Warriors FC,
First half goals from Vales Jaison in the 37th minute and a 44th minute Bikramjit strike, put Churchill Bros in the driving seat, heading into the second session. Sunil Chhetri sealed the game with a strike in the 83rd minute.
The injury ridden Red Machine had to make a host of changes to their line-up, giving Felix De Souza a start in goal, with Naveen Kumar, Sanjay Balmuchu, Amandeep Singh Bains and Vales Jaison, all included in the playing eleven.
The Warriors started with Abdil Mutalib and Marin Vidosevic in central defense and Mislav Karoglan led their attack.
The first quarter of the game had hardly any goalmouth action to speak of, as both the teams cancelled each other out in midfield, with newcomer Afghan’s Balal Arezou and Sunil Chhetri starved of any service upfront. Mislav Karoglan also cut a frustrated figure in the attack for the away side, as the team hardly enjoyed any possession in the attacking third.
It took 32 minutes for the first real chance of the game, when Sunil Chhetri led his side forward on a counter-attack, and found Balal Arezou, who had only the keeper to beat. The
The Red Machine though, didn’t have to dwell on the miss for too long, as they went ahead in the 37th minute through Vales Jaison. The left winger, picked up the ball in midfield, and tried his luck from outside the box, as the Warriors defenders failed to close him down. Hassan Sunny was taken by surprise by his effort, and could not save the ball from finding the back of the net.
The shell-shocked Singaporean side tried to move forward, in the hope of finding a reply, but they lacked ideas in attack, and did not pose a threat to Felix De Souza in goal. They were given a lesson in precision upfront by Chhetri, as the Indian striker broke forward down the right wing, and with just the keeper to beat, squared the ball to Bikramjit Singh, who had the easy task of tapping the ball home, to double his side’s lead in the 44th minute.
That proved to be the last bit of real action in the half.
The second half began just how the first had ended, as Churchill enjoyed monopoly in possession, and looked the likelier of the two sides to get another goal. Chhetri in particular, linked up fabulously with his wingers, and often penetrated the backline of the Warriors.
The final ball was missing though, and it was Bikramjit Singh who had two good chances from outside the box, who looked the most threatening of the Red Machine players, going forward. It was almost an hour on the clock, when the away side had their first real sight at goal. However Inui Tatsuro’s effort from a free kick, went just over the bar.
Sunil Chhetri then dribbled past two defenders, but hit his shot wide of the goal, before Balal Arezou, who had an ordinary outing on his AFC Cup debut, cut into the box, and unleashed a shot, which Hassan did well to palm away for a corner. From that corner, Arezou headed the ball towards Chhetri, who failed to hit the target from mere three yards out, leaving coach Mariano Dias with his head in his hands.
Sunil Chhetri though, got the goal his general game play deserved, when in the 83 minute, Ravanan Dharmaraj played a through ball to Arezou, who found Chhetri with a square pass. The striker then dribbled past the keeper and scored into an empty net, effectively sealing the tie for his side.
That proved to be the last bit of real action in the game, with Churchill Brothers moving to four points from three games, while Warriors FC remain at the bottom of the table, with no points to show for their efforts with three defeats.
