Mizoram wallop past Odisha 5-0 as 21 year old Lalromawia becomes the highest goalscorer!

by Spandan Paul March 22, 2018

22^nd March,2018,Kolkata: On a humid Thursday afternoon Mizoram turned up the heat even more when they walloped Odisha 5-0 for their second successive victory and reinstilled their numero-uno status in group B; on the 4^th day of 72^nd Santosh Trophy, here at Rabindra Sarovar Stadium, Kolkata.

Lal Romawia who was the hero of their last match against Goa scored a brace, to become the highest goalscorer till now and was aided by strikes from Malsawmdawng Liana, Lalbiakhlua and F Lalrinpuia to complete a 5 goal rout of Odisha who didn’t get a foothold after the first half.

In a quite contrast to the final scoreline Odisha started pretty well, with the first chance of the match falling to them. It was in the 4^th minute itself when their skipper no. 7 had his strong header rummaged into the crossbar after a corner by Karthikach Bhola.

It served as a wake-up call to the highlanders as the right wing Lalbiakhlua found the back of the net after a terrific movement, combining with Lalrinpuia , but unfortunately for them the linesman had his flag held up for an offside.

It was an evenly contested affair thereafter till the half-an hour mark, within which Mizoram playing in 4-3-3 formation, maintained pressure in their opponent half, owing to the combination of Lalbiakhlua, Lalrinpuia and Tha Siama while Bijay Behera and skipper Arjun Nayak made sure no chance of counter attack goes to waste for the Odisha side.

In the 34^th minute, Zomuanpuia found the back of the net but handling the ball before scoring undid him as the linesman again was spot on in his decision. But the north-eastern side was not to be denied for long as they broke the deadlock in the 37^th minute when Lalbiakhlua guided the ball into the net from Lalrinpuia’s cross through left which brushed the hands of Soumya Das,the Odisha keeper who tried to parry it away in vain before it fell to the former Aizawl FC winger.

That opener was enough to unsettle Odisha, who provided enough resistance till then, to their much-fancied opposition. 5 minutes later Lalromawia increased the lead after latching on to a beautiful through ball, down the middle from Lalnun Tluanga and produced a clinical finish past the hapless Odisha goalkeeper as both the sides went into the break with a scoreline of 2-0 in favour of Mizoram.

Mizoram started the second half with more intent and looked well set to pound in more goals. Lalsangzuala the Mizo coach played a masterstroke as he tweaked his tactics, switching to 4-2-4 with the 21 year old Lalromawia moving further up to bolster the attacking front. The switch soon paid them dividends when Lalromawia struck in the 59^th minute from a pitch perfect cross of Lalbiakhlua’s from the right flank to make it 3-0 for them.

As soon as Lalromawia struck his second and team’s third goal he became the highest scorer till now,  with 4 goals from 2 matches in this national football championship in spite of not being a striker which speaks the volume of his hardwork and opportunist sense.

Odisha coach Md. Salim made a surprising change after the third goal as he brought on substitute keeper Ezahuddin Khan in place of regular goalie Soumya Das. It simply made no sense as had it not been for Das, Odisha might have conceded more goals.

Soon they paid the price of the substitution in the 73^rd minute when their custodian failed to clear a 50-50 backpass from his defender as the hardworking Malsawmdawng Liana won the ball and kept his cool to put it past him, to make it 4-0 for the north-eastern side.

Lalrinpuia ,fondly known as Valpuia, who seemed frustrated till then for not getting his name on the scoresheet, put the final nail in the coffin for Odisha when he headed in another perfect cross from the unsung hero Lalbiakhlua in the added injury time.

Mizoram will  face Punjab on 24th March, Saturday at Howrah Stadium while Odisha will square off against Karnataka on the same day at the same time in  Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.