Shillong, March 3 : Shillong Lajong FC scored an injury time winner in a high scoring, topsy turvy game to take home a 4-3 win over Gokulam Kerala FC in the I-League 2024-25 at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Monday, March 3, 2025.The teams were locked 1-1 at half time.
Despite rallying back from a deficit twice in the game Gokulam Kerala were undone, extending their losingstreak to four matches now. While Phrangki Buam (14’, 50’), Marcos Rudwere (85’), Renan Paulino (90+5’)scored for the winners, Thabiso Brown (9’, 54’), Mashoor Shereef (88’) struck for the home side.
These two sides have combined for over a fifth of the total goals scored in the I-League this season and so there was never any real danger of the game petering into a goalless draw.
So, it proved, as Gokulam seized the initiative right from the outset, and scored the opener in the ninth minute of the game. Having been played through by a brilliant through ball, Thabiso Brown ran through Shillong’s high line before lobbing the ball over a charging Ranit Sarkar, to give the hosts the lead.
The lead didn’t last long, and within five minutes Shillong Lajong were level, when Phrangki Buam snuck in from the back to volley in Treimiki Lamurong’s brilliant cross from the left. Almost immediately, Lajong’s game was elevated and their interplay on the wings kept Gokulam on the backfoot for most of the first half.
The benefits of the pressure paid off within five minutes of the restart, when Lamurong and Buam combined again to give their side the lead. Having cut past two Gokulam defenders, Lamurong played a brilliant reverse pass through in the path of Buam’s run in the box. The forward made no mistake to slot it into the bottom corner.
The pendulum swung the other way, within four minutes, and Brown added a second to his tally, to draw the hosts level again heading home at the near post from a corner.
Both teams were soon attacking with abandon, and it was merely a matter of who hit first. Lajong did so again, taking the lead in the 85th minute, Marcos Shereef running through to gather Gladdy Kharbuli’s through ball and finish smartly into the bottom corner.
It wasn’t enough. Within three minutes, Gokulam drew level again. From a cross played deep from the left, Mashoor Shereef rose high despite being blocked by two Lajong defenders, to nod home from inside the six- yard box.It seemed Gokulam had done enough to break a three-game losing streak, and a point would have been deserved, and yet, in injury time Lajong struck. From a freekick right at the centre of goal, Renan Paulino curled his shot around the wall into the far corner, to give the visitors the lead for the third time in the game.
With mere minutes to play, Gokulam threw bodies forward and even came close, forcing Sarkar into a smart save. Shillong Lajong almost got a fourth when Buam launched a counterattack from a Gokulam corner. The forward ran away with the ball, while goalkeeper Bishorjit Singh — up for the corner — chased him down.
Offered a wide open goal, he shot wide. It didn’t matter, as they closed out the win.
With this win Lajong have now climbed up to 4th position on the points table and they will play their next match against Churchill Brothers on the 7th of March at 4:30 pm in Raia Ground, Goa.
