Striker Mohamed Izadeen after missing two attempts struck his third kick on target to see Army SC get past through Ratnam SC by 1-0 in the opening match of the Dialog Champions League 2011 which began at the City Football Complex in Colombo yesterday. The lackluster encounter saw a young looking Ratnam side dominate the possession of the ball much of the time but luck seemed to be an element they lacked throughout the match. They missed a total number of 16 attempts which either had the ball brushing off the posts while at the same time having the Army custodian Nilanka Sirisena busy almost right through.
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| Striker Mohamed Izadeen firing the solitary goal to steer Army to a lackluster 1-0 win against Ratnam in Colombo yesterday. (Pic by Ranjith Perera) |
As much as seven kicks were shot at by the Ratnam strikers during the first half but they were left hopeless when three possible scoring opportunities were thwarted by lanky Army goalkeeper Sirisena. Striker Mohamed Niloffer shot twice in the 27th and 31st minutes but lively Sirisena stood tall on both occasions.
Army on the other hand followed a sluggish playing style during the first half which ended scoreless but missed four attempts which could have given them the upper hand. The Holcim FA Cup champions almost scored their first when Izadeen netted an easy collection but he was spotted off side by the touch judge in the 30th minute. Midfielder Asanka Rangana missed Ratnam’s one of the third possible goals in the 45th minute when he missed an easy penalty.
During the first few minutes of the second half too Ratnam continued to maintain their dominance but missed nine further kicks at goal which went just closer outside from the posts. But Army in contrast hastened their playing style and steadily turned out to be vigorous as they began to produce a few astonishing moves to gain control.
Army striker Sudarshana Gunasinghe’s double attempt in the 61st minute was neatly brushed off by the Ratnam goalkeeper Sugath Dhammika who was spot on. Gunasinghe struck again in the 73rd minute but failed to find the net. Two minutes later midfielder Mohamed Fazal created a clean passage to give Izadeen the room to run past the Army custodian and net a goal but for the second consecutive occasion he was spotted off-side by the touch judge. But in the 80th minute Izadeen was given the room from a fine corner pass from midfielder Nirantha Perera to fire a fine cross-cutter across the nets.
The Dialog Champions League which began yesterday will feature 12 leading teams with 132 matches scheduled to be played and will run for 22 weeks. |
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