Shillong Lajong FC edged past Mohammedan Sporting Club in an incredible nine-goal thriller as the visitors won the I-League encounter 5-4 at the Saltlake Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Hosts Mohammedan Sporting took an early lead through Ashim Biswas but were reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Luis Barreto was shown a straight red for bringing down Boithang Haokip in the box. Cornell Glen successfully converted the penalty to bring Lajong level and then Subhash Singh put the visitors in front.

Penn Orji equalised for the Kolkata club but Glen restored Lajong’s lead just before the interval. Josimar made it 3-3 early in the second period but Luciano Soborsa wasted a penalty for Mohammedan Sporting.

That proved to be a crucial miss as goals from Subhash and Glen gave the away side a two-goal advantage. Josimar completed his brace to bring Mohammedan Sporting back into the game but Lajong held on for a memorable victory.

The result puts relegation-threatened Mohammedan Sporting in deep trouble now as their points tally remains 21 from 25 matches and they only have one more fixture remaining. The Kolkata club’s survival hopes are completely out of their hands now while Lajong have moved into the top five.

Mohammedan Sporting were looking to record back-to-back wins for the first time in this season’s I-League and they had the best possible start as Ashim headed home Basanta Singh’s cross.

The hosts wasted two great chances to double their lead and then suffered a big blow as custodian Barreto conceded a penalty as he denied Haokip a goal-scoring opportunity by tripping the Lajong player inside the box. Barreto was sent off and Glen made no mistake from the spot.

Mohammedan Sporting had no option but to attack despite the numerical disadvantage and that left plenty of spaces for Lajong to exploit. The away side went in front for the first time in the game when Subhash headed Uilliams Bomfin’s cross into the back of the net.

But Mohammedan Sporting hit back immediately as Penn Orji slotted the ball past Lajong custodian Lalthuammawia Ralte after some fine work by Josimar.

It was end-to-end action for the remainder of the first half and Lajong took the lead again when Glen produced a classy finish after getting away from his marker with ease.

Sanjoy Sen’s side restored parity just two minutes after the restart as Josimar latched on to a long ball from the back and scored with a powerful finish. Despite being down to ten, Mohammedan had all the momentum but were wasteful as Josimar squandered a golden opportunity.

At the hour mark, Mohammedan Sporting were awarded a penalty when substitute C Lallawmzuala fouled Josimar inside the box. But unfortunately for the Durand Cup and IFA Shield champions, Luciano’s spot-kick was saved by Ralte.

The penalty miss proved to be costly as Lajong regained their lead after a well-worked freekick. Minchol Son flicked on Bomfin’s freekick for Subhash, who volleyed home his second of the game. A few minutes later Glen completed his hattrick by scoring from a Bomfin corner delivery.

Josimar gave Mohammedan Sporting hope by pulling one back after a nice through pass from Penn. The black and whites threatened to equalise again but couldn’t score any further and suffered a damaging defeat.

(Report courtesy AIFF Media)