Kolkata: The second day of the Round 7 of the I-league saw a triple-header with exciting action all the way. In the first match of the afternoon, Chennai City FC beat NEROCA 2-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday (February 9).
The visitors opened the scoring through Vineeth Kumar Velmurugan shortly after the kick-off capitalising on a defensive lapse by NEROCA. Despite dominating the possession, the hosts were scrappy in and around that final third. Chennai however, looked good going against the run of play.
They put the icing on the cake through Demir Avdic who headed it home from a set-piece delivery from inside the box. Although NEROCA got back late in the second half through the experienced Subhash Singh, that was a mere consolation. Chennai took full three points to stand at sixth.
In the second match, RoundGlass Punjab FC beat Indian Arrows 2-1 at the Kalyani Stadium. The visitors dominated the game right from the kick-off showing great intensity. They took the lead through the veteran Baba Diawara who struck it exquisitely on the side volley.
The Senegalese forward completed his brace in the second half heading it home from a Joseba Beitia cross. Arrows pushed hard for a comeback netting one through Vellington Fernandes to slot it home after a brilliant move against the run of play.
However, Punjab had enough in their tank to seal the deal for them to stand behind league leaders Churchill Brothers with 11 points. In the evening, Tiddim Road Athletic Union Football Club clinched a 1-0 win over former champions Aizawl FC at the Kalyani Stadium.
The hosts made a blistering start getting their only goal of the match through Komron Tursunov who went on his own making a surging run before unleashing a fierce strike. Despite enjoying time on the ball, Aizawl failed to make it capitalise throughout the match.
TRAU goalkeeper Amrit Gope played showcased excellent bravery in keeping the clean sheet. The visitors had 17 shots on the goal but none of them were enough to save them.TRAU took full-three points to stand at eighth.
