Willis Plaza struck twice to guide Churchill Brothers to a 2-1 win over Indian Arrows in its I League clash at the Tilak Maidan here on Saturday.
Plaza scored his first goal in the 22nd minute off a header while his second came in the 45th minute, giving Churchill the decisive lead after Deepak Tangri’s equaliser for Indian Arrows in the 38th minute.
With this win, Churchill is now placed second in the table with 28 points, two short of league topper Chennai City FC.
Host Churchill pressed hard right from the first minute, but the young Indian Arrows defenders ensured they stood tall to their reputation. Plaza in combination with Dawda Ceesay and Anthony Wolfe kept pressing hard on the young Arrows from both sides.
On the other hand, the Indian Arrows did make some interesting moves, breaching the Churchill defense line at times, but lack of creative finishing and experience kept the youngsters away from scoring.
Churchill, which did not stop with its attacks, was soon rewarded when an inch-perfect pass from Ceesay was beautifully headed in to the net by Plaza, stunning the Arrows goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill.
The Arrows attacking front kept on with its offense in short intervals trying hard to find an equaliser.
And it was soon rewarded in the 38th minute when Tangri headed home from an Abhijit Sarkar corner kick.
Churchill, which was now mostly attacking on the counter, led again on the stroke of half-time when Plaza found his second, showcasing individual brilliance, beating the Arrows defenders and finally keeper Gill.
The game was a little physical in the second half.
Indian Arrows tried making the most of the set-pieces that it was awarded with, but couldn’t find the leveller for the second time in the match. Indian Arrows was awarded a penalty in the 84th minute but Sanjeev Stalin, who took the shot, could not convert it.
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