The Churchill Brothers maintained their winning streak in the I-League football tournament in a hard-fought 2-1 win over Rajasthan United on Tuesday. The championship match was played at the Naihati Stadium in West Bengal.
The Churchill Brothers did not lose the lead, despite losing one player to a red card in stoppage time. The former I-League champions have gone seven games unbeaten in the tournament-- their fifth win in a row. This is their seventh overall victory and they have 23 points from 13 matches. Rajasthan suffered their third defeat in the 14th match and now sit at the sixth position with 19 points.
Tajikistan's Komron Tursunov gave Churchill Brothers the lead in the 23rd minute.
Towards the end of the first half, Fernandes entered the box and crossed the ball towards Tursunov but Akhand got in the way and ended up deflecting the ball into his own net, gifting Churchill Brothers a two goal lead. In the second half, Rajasthan United's trail narrowed. In the 68th minute, Pritam Singh scored the goal. Churchill Brothers substitute Quan Gomes had to leave the field with a red card in the 90 + 3rd minute due to the second yellow card of the match.
During the match, both the teams showed tremendous ups and downs. Tensions arose between the coaches of both teams, as well as in the dug-outs. Therefore, the referee had to warn the concerned.
Good fortunes for Churchill Brothers
In the first leg of the I-League, Churchill Brothers lost 2-0 to Rajasthan United. On Tuesday, the Goa team made up for the loss. They are now level on points with Roundglass Punjab. Rajasthan United will be concerned about their current form as they only have one win in their last six games.