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Skipper Luka Majcen and midfield general Filip Mrzljak would lead from the front to help the Shers cruise to a comfortable win after a shaky start to the encounter.
ISL 2024-25: Punjab FC beat Mohammedan SC 2-0
Same story, different day for Punjab FC skipper Luka Majcen who would find the back of the net yet again and lead his side from the front as the Shers would run amok over newly-promoted Mohammedan SC in a spirited second half to seal a 2-0 win.
Both Punjab and Mohammedan have shared history, having been the only two teams promoted to the ISL from the I-League so far.
With Mohammedan failing to notch a single win in their last six games, it was almost poised for the now-experienced and new-look PFC to bully them to submission out the gate. But, the tale of the first half would be far from the same.
Punjab got going early, with Mrzljak and Majcen breaking through the MSC ranks at ease to threaten the keeper in the very first minute. Except for these two, who would continually maintain the pressure on the visitors’ defenses, PFC seemed to be scampering with the ball, unable to calmly create their chances.
It also didn’t help that young winger Nihal Sudeesh was delegated to play at right-back, a position that wouldn’t yield much result for the Keralite, who lacked the defensive chops, or Punjab as a whole, who were missing out on his attacking prowess.
Mohammedan, on the other hand, played simple elegant passes through the midfield of Punjab, easing their way to the final third. Yet here, they failed to impress in any manner, a trait that would only be highlighted when Remsanga would fail to tap in a sitter in front of the goal after a skilful run from Alexis.
Both sides would take their break at the half-hour mark and come out with more aggression: physical aggression in this case.
An ugly game of tackles all around ensued with yellow cards being flashed around for the likes of MSC’s Samad and PFC’s Meitei, as neither side could break through the defensive ranks of the other till the end of the half.
To add insult to injury, or rather injury to insult in this case, Mrzljak would incur a nosebleed after taking the ball on face-first, as the first half came to a chippy end.
PFC started off the second half similar to the first, going on the attack within the first minute to threaten the MSC keeper.
The visitors would respond aptly though, as yet another sitter would fall onto the feet of Remsanga from Franca, only for the striker to yet again miss the open goal.
The barrage of attacks from both sides would persist as either side took their chance continually, with PFC’s Mrzljak finally registering the first shot on target in the match, a straight shot at keeper Bhaskar who would deflect the attempt.
The pressure would stay on both sides well into the half. Finally, one of the two would budge, as Luka Majcen would surge into the box and slot the ball into the back of Mohammedan’s net in the 58th minute to give the Shers a 1-0 lead.
With his goal, Majcen would take his tally to five goals in seven appearances for Punjab, as he continued to lead from the front by example.
PFC though would almost instantly throw away their lead, as in the very next minute, a menacing run from Alexis would be met with a lunging tackle from Pulga Vidal, who conceded a free-kick right on the lines of the penalty box.
MSC though would fail to capitalise on the same, a mistake they would go on to regret as PFC would net another in the following minutes to pile on the misery.
A wondrous run by Abhimeitei would be the spark that would lead to a sequence of passes ultimately percolating in Vidal playing one through to Mrzljak who would calmly finesse the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 to the hosts in the 66th minute of play.
A deflated MSC wouldn’t cave in though, as Franca and Alexis would continue to probe into the final third, continually asking questions yet failing to find the target.
Dilimperis wouldn’t take any more chances with interchanging Ninthoi and Nihal on the right flank and would bring on defensive substitutions, as Punjab comfortably cruised till the end of the game to secure their win.
With their win against Mohammedan tonight, the Shers move up to a swanky third place in the ISL table with 18 points in 9 games, with one match in hand to potentially usurp Bengaluru FC, who lie second in the table.
