24 February, Kolkata: Sreenidi Deccan FC went down 4-6 to Mohammedan Sporting Club in the highest scoring game of the season in a Matchday 19 Hero I-League clash here at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan here on Friday. The Deccan Warriors had earlier defeated the Black Panthers 4-3 in a similarly entertaining encounter in Hyderabad but this time, the points went to the hosts.

 

The match got off to a flying start as winger Kean Lewis gave Mohammedan SC the lead 90 seconds after kick-off with a near post finish from a corner which Sreenidi Deccan failed to clear. But the visitors responded in the next minute as Nigerian attacker Rilwan Hassan placed his shot into the far corner of the Mohammedan SC goal to make it 1-1.

 

Forward Abiola Dauda put the Black Panthers into the lead again in the 21st minute with a brilliant shot from outside the box but Sreenidi Deccan found another equaliser through David Castaneda’s penalty in the 28th minute. But Dauda was at it again and he swung the game Mohammedan SC’s way after rounding goalkeeper Ubaid CK and slotting it home in the 31st minute.

 

The second half began like the first as SK Faiaz gave Mohammedan SC a 4-2 lead before Kean Lewis made it 5-2 in the 67th minute with a stunning left footed strike after a solo run. Sreenidi Deccan substitute Louis Ogana pulled one back with 10 minutes left on the clock to set up a tense finale but Mohammedan SC captain Nikola Stojanovic restored the hosts’ advantage with a thunderous right-footed shot in the roof of the net in the next minute.

 

Rosenberg Gabriel scored in the 90th minute for Sreenidi Deccan to make it 6-4 before the referee finally blew the full time whistle. Sreenidi Deccan remain top of the Hero I-League standings with 40 points from 19 matches while Mohammedan SC move up to 8th place with 23 points from 19 matches.