THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Confident Rangdajied United look for back-to-back victory

Rangdajied United FC

Rangdajied United FC

Though little late, Rangdajied United FC seems to have set the ball rolling and they are in no mood to let it loose once again. High on confidence like never before, the Shillong side will look to cause more upset when they host Mumbai FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday.

With two victories in three matches coming their way and having scored as many as ten goals in the last six matches, Rangdajied have improved leaps and bounds. The recent success can be definitely attributed to the newly industed players like Gouramangi Singh, Subrata Paul, Tomba Singh and others but what had stayed the key for Rangdajied, right from the very beginning, is their undying fighting spirit.

The two goals scored in the last minute of the extra time against Pune FC is a testament to the above statement.

However, with Mumbai FC, the match will be a different ball game all together. The Mumbai side are also one of the few sides in the league, whose recent performances have grabbed eyeballs. They have been unbeaten in their last four games, pocketing as many as 8 points.

And the fact that Khalid Jamil side have registered their two recent wins against big boys, East Bengal and Pune FC, testify the strength in their squad. Adding to it, they have held Mohun Bagan 1-1 just before travelling to Shillong.

But what will play in the mind of both the teams is their 1-1 draw in the first leg they had played in Pune. Manandeep got the lead for the Shillong side just to be cancelled out by Ashutosh to split the points.

Now that the leg is back in Shillong, Rangdajied will not like to settle for anything lesser than 3 points. Coach Santosh Kashyap exuded confidence in the pre-match press conference, saying that they will go for the win, but gave a due respect to the opponents.

“The team is in good shape and all the foreigners are fit and the best part, they are raring to go. But Mumbai FC is also a good team and they are in good form. So it will be a tough match again, but I am confident.

Mumbai FC meanwhile have Anwar Ali suffering from hamstring injury.

Like in the previous match, the former ONGC coach is once again facing the problem of plenty. All the players are available for selection but the main question was if David Ngaihte would be starting against Mumbai FC.

Santosh replied, “Honestly, I haven’t take the call yet. Munmun is also playing well and I will have to sit down and talk with my staffs to figure out the 18 member squad and then the first XI.

The match is set for a 17.00 IST kick-off, tickets for which are available across the city and in the stadium counters.