Young Parthib Gogoi recorded his first hat-trick at senior level as NorthEast United got their Durand Cup 2023 campaign off to a flying start, with a fluent 4-0 victory over Shillong Lajong, here on Friday. Assam boy Gogoi’s hat-trick added to the joy of the home supporters as the Highlanders took the pole position in Group D.
The Highlanders certainly appeared the more organised side from the moment the referee blew his whistle, as having an upper-hand in the game finally paid dividends in the 26th minute of the first half. Rochharzela turned his marker and made a run inside the top of the box to unleash a pile-driver, which dipped under slippery ground conditions in front of the Shillong keeper Neithovilie Chalieu.
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Chalieu managed to parry it away feebly and it fell on a platter for a young and lurking Parthib Gogoi, who deftly lobbed over the goalkeeper to open the scoring. The lead was doubled when Romain Philippoteaux drove in skillfully to send the Shillong defense in disarray, resulting in Kenstar bringing the Frenchman down inside the box.
The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Romain made no mistake in finishing what he had begun. With the score still reading 2-0 in favour of the Highlanders, Jithin MS, who came on in the second-half, set Parthib Gogoi up with a good cross five minutes post commencement, but the young striker’s attempt was hit straight to Chalieu.
Both coaches — Spaniard Juan Pedro Ben Ali and Shillong’s Bobby Lyngdoh — kept ringing in changes at the hour mark, but it was NEUFC which reaped the dividends, thanks to Parthib Gogoi’s awareness inside the box. It was Phalguni Singh who found the run of yet another substitute Gani Nigam on the right. Nigam fended off his marker and found Gogoi in the clear, who tapped in for the third goal.
Gogoi completed his hat-trick when Philippoteaux found Jithin with an impeccable through ball on the left flank and this time, he made no mistake with the cross, sliding it in to beat Chalieu for his third and fourth overall in the match. To Shillong’s credit, they did not give up and tried pulling one back, but could not challenge the NEUFC keeper Mirshad.
The game was preceded by a cultural programme and an opening ceremony, attended by the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. NorthEast United will next face FC Goa while Shillong Lajong will take on Downtown Heroes FC.
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