It’s a breather for Santosh Kashyap and the defending champion at Rajiv Gandhi stadium here in Aizawl, after eight matches without a win the home team Aizawl FC beat Indian Arrows with a comfortable margin of 3-0 on Friday.
Aizawl FC took an early lead with Romanian midfielder Andrei Ionescu scoring in the seventh minute. Aizawl FC’s mid season recruit Lalkhawpuimawia scored a brace to complete a 3-0 rout over the Indian Arrows.
After losing several matches with a draw being the better results for Aizawl FC for the past eight matches, the enthusiasm of the home crowd went down drastically. Seeing the bended knees of its fans, Aizawl FC management on Friday declared People’s Day and gave out free tickets which significantly enhanced the attendance.
Aizawl FC started the match in a rather shaky momentum with their central defender Masih Saighani not on the playing list due to minor injury. Santosh Kashyap who has just replaced Paolo Meneses had no choice but to replace the Aizawl FC’s last line of defence by Lalrozama Fanai.
It was Santosh Kashyap’s first win with Aizawl FC but huge challenges are ahead for him. The next two fixtures for Aizawl FC will be an away match against Punjab Minerva and AFC match against ISL side Bengaluru FC before their last I-League match at home against Gokulam FC.
The AIFF developmental squad has been better than what the current league table indicates. Luis Norton de Matos’ team has 15 points from 17 games but to their relief, they have immunity from relegation as per league rules.
With the win Aizawl have climbed to sixth in the I-League table with 21 points from 16 games.
