Super Division: Chheda Nagar pull off houdini act in ten-goal thriller!

by FC Admin March 12, 2019

Mumbai, March 11, 2019: It what is arguably the best game of the season so far Chheda Nagar Prodigies came from the brink to pull off a thrilling 5-5 draw against Reliance Youth Council at the Neville D’Souza Ground on Monday.

They were 5-1 (yes, you read it right!) down till the 61st minute until they pulled off a great escape! Can it be counted in the pantheon of Barcelona’s epic 6-1 comeback against Paris Saint Germain? For this writer…it is surely a resounding YES! But before we head on to how they actually pulled off this miraculous comeback we need not forget that it was Reliance who had simply decimated them in every department for the first sixty minutes of the game.

A two-goal burst in the first thirty minutes had set Reliance’s youngsters on the way. They had simply out passed Chheda Nagar and had not given them a chance in hell of getting anything out of this contest. Though the opening ten minutes had seen chances created at both ends still the first two goals had ensured that Chheda Nagar was left dead and buried till the half time whistle.

The second half was even worse as two goals from Mustaque Laskar and Aayush Chikkara in the 52nd and 59th minutes respectively made it 4-0 and had all but secured a comfortable win for Reliance. Though Simarpreet pulled one back for Chheda Nagar in the 60th minute still Thoi Singh Houidrom’s 61st minute strike made all and sundry believe that Reliance was cruising home with consummate ease. 5-1 and it looked all over for Chheda Nagar.

Even die-hard fans couldn’t have fathomed as to what was to come next as Chheda Nagar did the unthinkable and hit four past the opposition to snatch a draw from the jaws of inevitable defeat.

Gaurav Adhikari and Shavez Surve were in the thick of things as the duo struck two goals each to leave Reliance in a tizzy! Adhikari and Surve scored in the 67th and 69th minutes respectively to make it 5-3. Was a comeback imminent? Yes. And was Reliance crumbling under pressure? Yes…again!

Those two goals seemed to have shook Reliance to their core as they fumbled and fidgeted in the wake of a late Chheda Nagar onslaught. As Chheda Nagar threw the kitchen sink in the last twenty minutes…Reliance was creaking and on the verge of a collapse! The first bit of their foundation (no pun intended!) fell off when Adhikari capitalized on a horrible goalkeeping error and slotted home in the 74th minute. 5-4…and Chheda Nagar was almost there!

The last ten minutes of the game was a nail-biter as Chheda Nagar launched wave after wave of attack in a bid to get that all-important fifth goal. There were ugly scenes as well when Surve felled the Reliance goalkeeper with a high boot as both players rushed for the ball inside the box. But it was soon to be forgotten as Surve slalomed past three defenders on the left flank and slammed in Chheda Nagar’s fifth goal in what was virtually the last kick of the game!

5-5…and the rest of Reliance’s ‘foundation’ had collapsed! And as the referee blew for the final whistle there was jubilant scenes in the Chheda Nagar camp for they had just pulled off one of the best comebacks in the league’s history. No one had given them even an iota of chance after receiving a mauling in the first half and it surely was a comeback of incredible proportions.

As for Reliance…it was a classic case of what might have been!

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