MAPUSA: Ten men Lakshadweep went down fighting 1-3 to Gujarat in the Hero Santosh Trophy- West Zone Qualifiers, organised by GFA and played Duler Stadium here on Thursday.
With Thursday’s win Gujarat grabbed their first three points after having lost both their matches while Laksadweep are yet to open their account after two matches.
It was Lakshadweep who started brightly and nearly took the lead in the 1st minute but Nasarulla`s strong header from a cross delivered by Abdull was well saved by Gujarat keeper Levi Francis.
The ball was mostly confined to the midfield until the 18th minute when Lakshadweep broke the deadlock through Abdul Nazar who pounced on to a defensive blunder by the Gujarat’s defender and goalkeeper Levi, to cleverly tap the ball into the net, 1-0.
Lakshadweep nearly doubled their lead minutes later, but keeper Levi Francis brought an acrobatic save to stop skipper Anwar’s grounder from entering the goal.
Lakshadweep who looked positive saw their wheel come off in the 27th minute when they were reduced to ten men after keeper Mohammed Mubarak was given a straight red card by referee MG Prabhakaran for a dangerous tackle on Gujarat’s Jignesh.
Pavan Ramanuj coolly dispatched the spot kick into the net, 1-1.It did not take long for Gujarat to consolidate their lead in the 39th minute through a solo run by Ayaan who after getting past the Lakshadweep defender placed the ball into the goal, 2-1
Lakshadweep had two chances to level the score, but Mohammed Akram failed to keep his shot goal wards from close range and then it needed the timely intervention of Gujarat’s defender Salman Khan to clear the ball to safety before Faizal Hussain could toe the ball into the net. Gujarat sealed the match with the third goal in the added time through Ayaan Shaikh who rounded the keeper and slammed the ball into the net after being put through by Vinay Sharma, 3-1.
