Punjab FC went down fighting Churchill Brothers

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 20

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, on Tuesday.

Clayvin Bernardez Zuniga’s 85th minute strike helped the Goan outfit to stick to maintain top position at the points’ table.

The match was largely dominated by Churchill Brothers midfielders. Earlier, each team was presented with a clear opportunity to take the lead. Had both taken their chances, the match would have been locked at one apiece in under 10 minutes. In the fourth minute, Punjab FC were handed a golden opportunity when striker Chencho Gyeltshen burst forward and rounded the onrushing goalkeeper. With the 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 their strategy and started playing defensive. In the 36thminute, 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, 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, the 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 their one-goal lead till the end of the game to register their second win of the I-League, taking their points tally to seven in three matches.