Shillong, Oct 1: Down but not out, Shillong Lajong came from 0-3 down to win 4-3 against Mawlai here on Wednesday evening in a comeback the likes of which have never been seen before in the Shillong Premier League.
Staring at what would have been their first defeat of the season, the reigning champions scored through Emanbha Marbaniang (58′, 67′) and Deibormame Tongper (64′, 80′) after Samlang Rympei (22’), Fairming Suting (46’) and Loving Suting (53’) gave Mawlai what should have been an unassailable lead.
With victory, Lajong moved above Mawlai in the standings. Both have 12 points and Mawlai even have a better goal difference (+10 to +8) but SLFC have head-to-head advantage. The other club to be happy with today’s result are Nangkiew Irat, who lead with 13 points. A loss today would have been detrimental to Lajong’s hopes of defending their SPL title but this win has given them a shot in the arm while putting a sizeable dent in Mawlai’s chances.
The lone goal of the first half saw Samlang’s shot take a deflection off a defender to leave Lajong goalkeeper Wanteilang Malngiang rooted to the spot.
There were other close calls in the first 45 minutes, with Deibormame landing one on the roof of the net and Wanteilang diving full to his right to keep out a Brolington Warlarpih free-kick.
But the match truly came alive in the second half, with Fairming nailing a powerful shot in under a minute of the restart. Just seven minutes later, Loving ran from the halfway line unchallenged and fired in a right-footer from inside the box to make it 3-0 and the game seemed wrapped up by this point.
Mawlai took their foot off the accelerator, however, and that cost them dearly. They were laid back in defence and substitute Emanbha was given the ball, which led him to smash it into the back of the net while on the run up the left flank.
Deibormame got his head to a cross to reduce the margin further, and Emanbha provided the equaliser by scoring from a gorgeous cross from the right delivered by Banlamkupar Rynjah. Mawlai’s fate was then sealed in the 80th minute when Deibor scored the winner with his left boot to send the Lajong bench into ecstasy.
Mawlai still made every effort to get back into the contest, but they had lost the momentum, though a ball that hit the upright in stoppage time almost led to an equaliser. Deibor was sent off with a second yellow card in the last couple of minutes, but there was not enough time for Mawlai to make their man advantage count.
Lajong celebrated the final whistle as if they had won the title while Mawlai’s players berated the match officials, perhaps for decisions they felt had not gone their way. But, after losing from 3-0 up, they really only have themselves to blame, while Lajong’s never-say-die attitude was a treat for every football fan to witness.
The SPL 2025 will be back on Friday when Malki take on Rangdajied United at 4:30 pm in the first match of Round 7.
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