GUWAHATI: NorthEast United FC stormed into the quarterfinals of the 132nd Durand Cup Football Tournament defeating Downtown Heroes of Kashmir 3-1 in their last group ‘D’ match at the Indira Gandhi Athletics stadium here today. The winner, once trailed by 0-1, scored all three goals in the second half through Ibson Melo, Romain Philippoteaux and Parthib Gogoi. Parvaj Bhuiya was the lone scorer for the Kashmir side.
It was the first occasion when NEUFC booked their place in the quarter final of this prestigious football championship.
NEUFC coach Juan Pedro today made six changes in the team that played against FC Goa in the previous match. However the start was not good for NEUFC and they fell behind to an opportunistic goal by Parvaj Bhuiya within 9 minutes of the match. The local team thereafter struggled to create concrete chances even though nearly 5,000 spectators came into the ground to cheer for them. The Highlanders ended the first half trailing 0-1.
However it was a completely different story in the second half. NEUFC made three changes in the second half bringing in Parthib Gogoi, Phalguni Singh and Dinesh Singh and the team’s rhythm looked much better in the attacking third. The side got the equaliser in the 48th minute through Ibson and four minutes later Romain danced his way into the box and slammed home into the bottom corner to put NEUFC ahead.
The next twenty odd minutes saw the Highlanders dominate, but they failed to convert any chances that came their way. However Parthib Gogoi showcased his class once again taking out three defenders with a solo run to score his team’s third goal. The match was 78th minutes old when Parthib collected a long shot from his goalkeeper Mirshad and dribbled past three defenders before putting the ball into the net.
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