Mohomed Issadeen scored a hat-trick and Nuwan Rajapaksha added a brace as Army crushed Renown 7-1 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
Sanka Dhanushka opened the scoring but Mohomed Fazal equalized from a direct free kick. There on it was all Army with Rajapaksha adding the second and Issadeen scoring two more before half time. Rajapaksha and Issadeen scored a goal each in the second half while an unfortunate Prasath Yogaraja scored into his own net giving Army their seventh.
It was contrasting fortunes for Army and Renown in mid-week when they met Solid SC and Pelicans SC respectively. Army’s championship aspirations were well and truly vanquished by Solid at Kelaniya when they were beaten 3-1, while Renown was involved in a goal fest winning the match 5-3.
Army started off the evening in perfect fashion when Sankha Dhanushka got on the end of a cross and calmly slotted past the diving Saman Wimukthi leaving two Renown defenders in his wake. Minutes later Fazal equalized for Renown with a perfectly taken free-kick. Shanmugaraja Sanjeev was fouled just outside the box and Fazal curled the ball towards the far post leaving no chance for the goalkeeper.
Army retook the lead in the 17th minute through Rajapaksha. Dhanushka lobbed the ball into the box in search of Issadeen who perfectly chested it down and laid it on to the path of Rajapaksha who drilled it past the goalkeeper to make it 2-1.
Renown, not to be discouraged by going down twice created a couple of opportunities, with Sanjeev’s daisy cutter forcing the Army goalkeeper to palm it away and Rizni’s shoot being blocked by the Army defense.
However Army made it 3-1 in the 37th minute through Issadeen’s first of the match and added the fourth on the stroke of half-time. Issadeen was fouled inside the box and he dusted himself off to easily score his second wrong footing the keeper.
Ten minutes into the second half, Rajapaksha scored another for Army past the now demoralized Renown defense. Renown got a free kick on the edge of the box but the set move was easily saved by the goalkeeper.
Issadeen completed his hat-trick in the 67th minute with Renown having no answer for the Army onslaught. Army were carving their way through the defense with ease and one such moment had the Renown defense all over the place, with Yogaraja scoring an own goal.
Army bombed down the left flank and a perfect cross into the six yard box was met by Yogaraja who under pressure from Issadeen at the far post tried to clear but only succeeded in volleying the ball into his own net.
This match clearly showed how much planning should go into a game against Army or as a matter of fact against any team, especially in defense. Renown has Sri Lanka’s veteran players like Fazul Rahuman and future of the country in Rifnaz, Fazal and Sanjeev but they were all found wanting in defense.
A perfect example was when Colombo FC drew Army 2 all a week back with limited personnel with a well-structured and disciplined defense, cutting Army’s feeding lines and closing the gaps.
