Lajong turn the table on Aizawl FC in a spirited 3-1 NE Derby triumph thanks to Fabio's brace

IF SHILLONG LAJONG thought this was going to be just another home game, well, they were sorely mistaken.

As the players were winding up their pre-match warm ups, a legion of fans marched into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong. They had all travelled nearly 500 kilometers together, by road to be here. They were all carrying little white flags bearing the initials 'AFC'. They were all chanting the name of their club, Aizawl FC. And embarrassingly, they were considerably louder than the home fans. 

The embarrassment doubled up when just in the third minute, Aizawl scored from their first corner of the game. It was a mess-up on goalkeeper Vishal Kaith's part. He could not judge the ball, it fell to a defender, took a deflection off Vishal, then fell straight to a vigilant Joel Sunday who practically had an open net to tap into. The net was ruffled, and the stadium went mad. 

Things seemed to be hitting the rock-bottom for the bottom-table Shillong Lajong. But it was at the face of this adversity that they came charging back into the game.

Right after Vishal Kaith almost let Joel get a second goal off an ill-timed back pass, Fabio Pena charged forward into the Aizawl box, launching head-first into a raised ball to head it straight into the net. It was 1-1, Lajong were back in the game. The silent masses that were the home fans suddenly came alive with their own roar, songs and chants. The fight was on.

And before you could blink, the comeback became a one-two combination punch. Again it was Fabio Pena, who drove it in with a hammer-foot. And suddenly Lajong, who had never scored more than one goal in a match in this season so far, had successfully chased the Derby game from a deficit and claimed a lead. 

Unfortunately for the home fans, the double goal scorer Fabio had to leave the ground soon afterwards with a pulled groin. Uilliams came on to replace him. And immediately he was at the thick of it. Lalmuanpuia took a crack at the goal, Lalawmpuia fisted it away, and Uilliams had a chance to knock it in from range. But the keeper was quick enough to see it out. 

Samuel Lamuanpuia was not going to be denied for long. It was a dream run from Penn Orji as he took the ball in the midfield, cut through two individual and two clusters of defenders before finally getting into the final third and sending a gem of a through ball to Samuel who sent it right in. Shillong Lajong were 3-1 ahead just before half-time.

During the break, the noise was deafening. As the speakers played "Be The One", the official Shillong Lajong anthem, it seemed like every one of the thousands of home fans was singing along. In the chilly night as a massive white cloud descended from the sky and settled over the pitch and eclipsed the twinkling lights of Shillong on nearby hills, the fans kept the atmosphere warm with their presence.

The away fans found their voice again, when Joel Sunday tried a long ranger early in the second half. Again, when Lalrinpuia took a free kick at the edge of the Lajong box... the ball was too high.

Soon David Lalrinmuana got into the Lajong box and sent in a rough header that almost saw Kinowaki get a clean shot on the goal but Vishal Kaith was alert again. The danger was averted.

Then Alfed Jaryan sent a mighty header ahead that allowed Aizawl scorer Joel Sunday tear through to some space and aim for the money but Kaith made a low dive to get his hands to the ball. A punch saw it out for corner.

Joel Sunday came sniffing again, dodging a defender with a quick turn and pulling the trigger... but the ball went wide. Lajong tried to counter but it didn't get far.

Aizawl got their final chance to bring Aizawl back into the game around the 83rd minute with a free kick from scoring range. He got it past the cluster of defenders and kept it on target, but Kaith onmce again anticipated the ball rightly and got behind it to avert any possible peril. Minutes later, Kinowaki tried a shot on goal, but it was again too easy for Kaith.

The back and forth went on till the very end when the long whistle finally called an end to a contest which, full of twists and turns, has in itself become a twist in the league's relegation race. The non-scoring Lajong have shown some offensive bravado to claim their biggest win of the season yet.

Is this where Lajong finally turn the season around? After scoring just 5 goals in the first 11 matches of the league, tonight they scored 3 within a span of 20 minutes. Even in the second half, when the Aizawl attackers sustained pressure and created chances, the Lajong defence didn't budge. And special credit has to go to keeper Vishal Kaith for making a few spirited saves that protected Lajong's lead. 

It's not that Aizawl played badly, but Shillong Lajong put up the performance of the season tonight. Perhaps the international break has worked this wonder for Lajong. Perhaps the "balance" in the team that Thangboi Singto has been seeking all along is finally within grasp. Perhaps this is the night when both Lajong and Aizawl established themselves as forces to be reckoned with and began a journey that would take both these North-East clubs away from the relegation spot. 

This spirited game on a beautiful night in Shillong, a so-called bottom-table clash, created a world of possibilities for I-League and Indian football in general, that can have ramifications stretching beyond this season.