Nong's wonder goal features in Arrows' win

A moment of sheer wizardry was witnessed at the Ambedkar Stadium when Nongdamba Naorem dribbled past four Shillong Lajong defenders to score the second goal of his team as the Indian Arrows marched on to win the match 3-0 here on Tuesday.

The Arrows ended their three-match losing streak with a complete performance as they dominated every aspect of the game against a 10-man Lajong side — after substitute F Lalrohlua got his second yellow card in 68th minute for a late tackle on Ali — in the official 90 minutes of play.

"It's very important for us to win the match, especially after losing three matches. We needed things to go our way to get back our confidence and we exactly managed to do that. We would like to build up on this win and keep getting positive results," said the stalwart goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh.

The teenagers looked hungry from the word go as they exerted pressure on the away side. They soon opened their account in the 19th minute from a first-touch finish by centre-back Jitendra Singh. The goal was a result of quick link-up play from a free-kick that saw left-back Sanjeev Stalin play Rahim Ali free on the flanks. The forward wasted no time in feeding unmarked centre-back Jitendra Singh inside the box.

The match turned into a midfield battle after that as neither side was able to eke out a clear chance afterwards in the first half.

The same continued in the second half but gradually Robert Nongrum-coached side started looking more confident with their build-ups, especially from set-pieces; Achilles heel of Arrows so far this season.

But that changed when Lalrohlua was sent off in the 68th minute. Arrows' Stand-in coach Floyd Pinto — for coach Luis Norton de Matos is on a Christmas holiday — soon brought on Naorem and KP Rahul; albeit for defensive purposes but the duo ended up doing offensive wreckage.

After Naorem's solo goal in the 85th minute, Rahul scored a blinder of his own from outside the box as shot-stopper Phurba Lachenpa stood no chance of blocking the shot in the injury time.

"Despite being down to 10 men, Shillong were attacking in numbers from the flanks so I sent in Nong (Naorem) and Rahul to help the fullbacks first," said Pinto. "They did that extra bit of effort themselves to score the goals. We all know how efficient of a dribbler Nong is. For Rahul, when he connects the ball well with his feet, he is unstoppable."

Lajong coach Nongrum heaped praises on the youngest team in the league.

"They were much improved side than we saw them in previous matches. They read our game well and got control of the game in the first 15 minutes itself," said the Lajong gaffer.

Arrows will next play Mohun Bagan away in Kolkata on December 29. The venue is yet to be decided as the I-league giants have made an appeal to play their home matches at their own 22000-capacity home ground.