KOKRAJHAR: Liton Shil scored and was later sent off as Indian Army beat Odisha FC by a solitary goal in a Durand Cup Group F match on Monday here at SAI Stadium.
Shil’s 42nd-minute goal proved to be enough for Indian Army to clinch victory against the ISL side.
Indian Army started the game on the front foot and it could have bagged an early goal if an unmarked Rahul Ramakrishnan could have found the target from a cutback from right winger L Deepak Singh.
Indian Army continued to press hard with Christopher Kamei’s shot being saved by Odisha keeper Niraj Kumar. They continued to pile on the pressure on the inexperienced Odisha as their frontline looked threatening in every move. Both teams could not create clear cut chances as the game was mostly played in the centre of the park. In the 42nd minute, Samir Murmu played a through ball for centre forward Liton Shil who ran past two defenders and finished expertly beyond the Odisha keeper to give the Indian Army side the lead.
Odisha started the second half with more vigour looking for the equalizer but the Army men used their experi-ence to slow down the game and play it to their advantage against the youngsters of Odisha. Liton Shil was always posing a threat for the Odisha defence along with Deepak Singh with Christopher Kamei controlling the proceedings from midfield. Indian Army were reduced to ten men in the 77th minute as goal scorer Liton Shil was shown a straight red card for a clumsy foul on Odisha defender Tankadhar Bag. Odisha put continuous pressure on the Ar-my side but the experienced Army men saw of the dangers to open their Durand Cup campaign with a win.
The India’s leading entertainment destination BookMyShow has been roped in as exclusive ticketing partners for the 132nd Indian Oil Durand Cup. According to organizers, the fans can book their tickets for all knockout matches of the tournament exclusively on www.bookmyshow.com. Besides, the fans can get the ticket off line available in KDSA, Gossaigaon and District Sports Offices of Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri.
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