Sreenidhi Deccan surprises Mohammedan Sporting

V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD

Sreenidhi Deccan FC fought back from a two goal-deficit to score a surprising 4-3 win over Mohammedan Sporting in the Hero I-League football at Deccan Arena (Sreenidhi School campus) here on Thursday.

The match began on an even note before the visitor took the lead through a long-range strike from midfielder Nikola Stojanovic in the 25th. A few minutes later, Faslurahman doubled the advantage with a rebound header from close range. Faysal Shayesteh gave Sreenidhi hope with a free kick just before half-time to make it 1-2.

Sporting restored the two-goal advantage when S.K. Faiaz scored from another long-range effort in the 66th minute and it looked like the points were sealed. However, Sreenidhi head coach Carlos Vaz Pinto’s substitutions proved to be very effective.

Captain David Castaneda and winger Rosenberg Gabriel came on and made their presence felt. But it was defender Awal Mohammed who got the home team back into the game as he thumped in a volley in the 69th minute. Barely two minutes later, Castaneda headed in Faysal’s free-kick to equalise and in the 81st minute, he scored another header to clinch the issue for Sreenidhi.

Sreenidi Deccan FC will travel to Srinagar to face Real Kashmir next on December 6.

The result: Sreenidhi Deccan 4 (Faysal, Awal, Castaneda 2) bt Mohammedan Sporting 3 (Nikola Stojanovic, Faslurahman, S.K. Faiaz).