Hyderabad, May 16 Lalromawia and David Castañeda scored as Sreenidi Deccan FC edged Chanmari FC 2-1 to keep their title hopes alive in the Indian Football League (IFL) 2025-26 clash at the Deccan Arena, in Hyderabad, on Saturday.
Heading into the contest knowing that only a win would keep their title hopes alive, the Deccan Warriors raced to a two-goal lead through Lalromawia and David Castañeda inside 23 minutes while Marlon Rangel scored for the visitors in the 27th minute.
Sreenidi Deccan began the match at a high tempo and took the lead in the 10th minute. Fabrice Kah delivered a cross into the box, which was chested down by Castañeda for Brandon Vanlalremdika, whose scuffed shot fortunately rolled into the path of Lalromawia. The forward made no mistake from close range and slotted the ball into the back of the net. A couple of minutes later, Kah found the net himself, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
The home side doubled their advantage in the 23rd minute through a swift counter-attack. Fabrice Kah skipped past the challenge of two defenders on the left flank before drilling in a low cross towards the edge of the box, which found Castañeda. The striker unleashed a powerful right-footed strike that nestled into the bottom corner for his fifth goal of the season.
Chanmari halved the deficit just four minutes later after Sreenidi Deccan goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh failed to deal with a direct free-kick from centre-back Marlon Rangel. The defender’s effort from nearly 30 yards slipped through the experienced goalkeeper’s hands and into the back of the net.
The first half flew by with both teams playing entertaining attacking football, as Sreenidi looked to improve their goal difference while Chanmari pushed hard for an equaliser. Abhijith K saw his volley well saved by the Chanmari goalkeeper, while at the other end, Kamaljit Singh got down smartly to keep out an effort from Lalpekhlua.
Fabrice Kah, who proved difficult for the Chanmari defence to contain in the first half, saw a couple of his efforts drift narrowly wide of the post, while Lalromawia failed to generate enough power on his shot to trouble the goalkeeper as the Deccan Warriors headed into the break with a one-goal advantage.
The home side slowed the tempo in the second half, allowing Chanmari more possession and inviting them forward. The visitors produced the first effort after the restart with a long-range strike that was comfortably gathered by Kamaljit Singh, who looked composed after his earlier mistake in the first half. The goalkeeper was called into action again at the hour mark, this time producing a fine save to deny Lalpekhlua’s effort.
The Deccan Warriors showed little urgency to raise the tempo of the game, with the responsibility on Chanmari to search for an equaliser. Sreenidi were content to create openings through counter-attacks and set-pieces, and their best chance of the half came from one such situation.
Castañeda flicked on a corner at the near post and found Hadi Idrissou unmarked at the far post, but the Togolese defender failed to direct his header on target from six yards out, wasting a golden opportunity to extend his side’s lead.
The visitors could not mount any strong challenge as Sreenidi were comfortable in defence and eventually saw out the game to keep their title hopes alive.
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