I-League: Real Kashmir register win against Rajasthan United

Real Kashmir began their I-League 2024-25 season with a 2-0 victory over Rajasthan United FC at the TRC Ground on Sunday. Both goals came in the first half.

Mohammad Inam (11’) and Senegal recruit Elhadi Abdou Karim Samb (28’) scored the two goals for the Snow Leopards, who finished fifth in the I-League table last season.

Real Kashmir had a dream start to their season when the wily Inam was played through on the left by Samb. The winger attempted a hard, low cross, which took a deflection before bobbing into the goal, completely wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

In the 28th minute, Samb intercepted a back-pass by Rajasthan defender Wayne Vaz and poked it past goalkeeper James Kithan to double the home side’s advantage. With a two-goal cushion on their hands, Real Kashmir slowed the pace of the game, choosing to be patient in their approach till the end of the first half.

After the break, Real Kashmir relied heavily on their wingers to stretch the play and bombard the Rajasthan box with crosses, a ploy that did cause some trouble to the latter. Real Kashmir were thoroughly in control of the game during this period, and captain Kamal Issah could well have added one more, after being played through behind the defence, with just the goalkeeper to beat. However, Issah’s effort landed in the galleries.

While Rajasthan did show some intent in the dying minutes, the hosts were in too comfortable a position to ease their grip on the game, as Real Kashmir notched their first victory of the 2024-25 I-League season.