Jaipur- Rajasthan United kept up their upward charge through the I-League table with a 4-0 win over Real Kashmir in an emphatic performance at the Vidyadhar Nagar Stadium here on Monday.
The game was decided in the first 32 minutes in which the Desert Warriors scored three goals.
Alain Oyarzun (13′), Maicol Cabrera (14′, 32′), and Gautam Virwani (90+4′) were on target for the home team.
Rajasthan United took their tally to 24 points and rose to fourth place, their highest so far in the season.
Meanwhile, Real Kashmir suffered a blow to their title chances as they remained on 26 points and slipped to third place, three points behind leaders Churchill Brothers.
It was the Snow Leopards’ heaviest I-League defeat since March 2022 when they were beaten 1-5 by Gokulam Kerala FC.
In an utterly dominant first half performance, Rajasthan United pressured Real Kashmir’s defence from the outset.
Playing out from the back, they constantly drew Kashmir’s players forward before exploiting the gaps and hitting them at pace.
When the first goal did arrive, it wasn’t a surprise, even if the visitors would’ve been disappointed with the defending.
William Pauliankhum’s cross from the left curled into the box and was chested down by Maicol Cabrera into the path of Alain Oyarzun.
The Spaniard duly smashed the ball in from the inside the six-yard box to open the scoring.
Almost straight from the restart, Rajasthan added a second. With Kashmir saddled on their heels in defence, Cabrera took the ball from Aminou Bouba, charged into the box and scored his first of the match.
The Snow Leopards were rattled, and Rajasthan could have easily added many more if not for some brave goalkeeping by Syed Zahid Hussain Bukhari.
However, even the goalkeeper could do nothing about Rajasthan’s third — a sure-shot contender for one of the goals of the season.
With his back to goal, Cabrera chested a lobbed cross from the right, up before unleashing a perfect bicycle kick into the bottom corner of the goal.
Rajasthan would’ve been sad to see the half end, and Kashmir, rushed inside glad to be rid of it.
The visitors put up a braver rearguard action in the second half, restricting Rajasthan to pot shots from distance and even going to the extent of turning the game into a bruising encounter.
While they did little going forward, at least the leaks had stopped.
That was until injury time, when Muhammad Hammad’s weak clearance from a low cross was smashed in by substitute Gauram Virwani.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
