Delhi FC 3 (Vanlalhriatzuala 7’, Stephane Binong 54’, Himanshu Jangra 66’)
defeated
Shillong Lajong FC 1 (Phrangki Buam 34’)
AIFF Media Team
MAHILPUR: Delhi FC recorded their second win of the I-League 2024-25 campaign, a dominant 3-1 victory against Shillong Lajong in Round 6 at the Mahilpur Football Stadium on Thursday, December 19, 2024. The scores were tied 1-1 at half-time.
With Mahilpur as their new home, Delhi got off to a good start as Vanlalhriatzuala (7’) put them in the lead, before Phrangki Buam (34’) reined things back to level terms for Lajong. Stephane Binong (54’) and Himanshu Jangra (66’) scored two in the second half to win it for the hosts. Daniel Goncalves was given his marching orders in injury time after a second bookable offence.
This result lifted Delhi FC to the fourth spot on the I-League table.
Delhi made a blistering start to the game and suffocated Shillong Lajong with their constant barrage of attacks. A flurry of set pieces were frantically defended before Delhi finally struck home. In the seventh minute, a corner to the far post was weakly cleared by Lajong, the ball pinging around in the six yard area, before Danilo Augusto brought it down and laid it off for Vanlalhriatzuala. The Mizo midfielder walloped a first time shot into the roof of the net from inside the six yard box.
Lajong were under serious pressure and at times looked incapable of even escaping from their own box. On set pieces their defence was constantly outmuscled and Augusto squandered a chance in the 17th minute, heading wide from a corner when unmarked.
When Lajong’s equaliser did arrive, it wasn’t so much a surprise as an abject shocker, and it was entirely the hosts’ creation. A routine low cross from the left by Marcos Rudwere was sliding towards Lalmalsawma to clear. The defender completely missed the ball and it trickled through to Phrangki Buam lurking behind him. The winger had to merely tap in from five yards to bring his side level.
And yet, Delhi could have gone into the break in the lead again, the woodwork the only thing offering any resistance. First, Sanson Pereira’s delivery from the right snuck through a melee of players before bouncing off the post. Delhi patiently built play up from the rebound and then Stephen Acquah let fly from outside the box, only to sting the crossbar.
The pattern of play stayed consistent in the second half too, and just before the hour mark Delhi wrested back the lead the scorer becoming the provider. Picking up a stray ball inside the box, Vanlalhriatzuala played a brilliant lobbed ball across the face of goal, where Stephane Binong had shaken away his marker. The Cameroonian’s perfectly placed diving header ruffled the net.
Himanshu Jhangra added a brilliant third in the 66th minute, volleying into the bottom corner from the top of the box. Despite the game getting increasingly ill-tempered at the end, and Lajong having Goncalves sent off, Delhi cruised to a deserved win.
