Punjab FC go down fighting to Churchill

I League

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 19

RoundGlass Punjab FC went down fighting 0-1 against table toppers Churchill Brothers FC in a tough I-League encounter at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata.

Clayvin Bernardez Zuniga’s 85th minute strike helped Churchill Brothers to stick to maintain top position in the points’ table.

The match was largely dominated by midfielders of Churchill Brothers. Earlier, each team was presented with a clear opportunity to take the lead and had both taken their chances, the match would have been locked at one apiece in under-10 minutes. In the fourth minute, Punjab FC was handed a golden opportunity when striker Chencho Gyeltshen burst forward and rounded the onrushing goalkeeper. With Bhutanese forward’s strike tumbling into the net, Suresh Meetei heroically came to the rescue and cleared the shot off the goal line.

Four minutes later, Churchill’s Luka Majcen was put on through to goal by a cross from the right flank. With only the opposition custodian to beat, Majcen shot way over the bar as Punjab FC survived a scare.

Thereafter, Punjab FC changed its strategy and started playing defensive. In the 36th minute, Bazie Armand’s shot from outside the box was saved after a quick one-two pass with Zuniga. In the 39th minute, Bazie was found clear of his marker by a cut-back ball by Clencio Pinto. Armand’s shot from inside the box was however met by an even more impressive sliding tackle of Saurabh Bhanwala, making a goal-line clearance, to deny Churchill the lead.

After the lemon break, Churchill’s Bryce Miranda cut inside from the right flank into the box and tried to find the far left corner of the goal but his outside-of-the-boot shot went wide of the goalpost.

Searching for the opener desperately, Honduran international Zuniga finally gave the team a sigh of relief when he touched the ball into the back of the net in the 85th minute. Churchill held onto its one-goal lead till the end of the game to register its second win of the I-League, taking its points tally to seven in three matches.