Rourkela, Nov 15 (IANS) Rajasthan United FC claimed their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Samaleswari SC in the Indian Football League 2026–27 at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium.
After a goalless first half, two second-half goals settled the match, and Thomyo Shimray was involved in both. He opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a shot from a tight angle. In the 87th minute he crossed for Brijesh Giri, who headed in the second goal and was named Man of the Match.
The result lifts Rajasthan to eighth in the table with three points from three matches. Samaleswari remain bottom and are still looking for their first points after three games.
Both sides started brightly, and each went close inside four minutes. In the second minute Alan Thapa met a cross from the left with a powerful header that went just over the bar. Two minutes later Yoihenba Meitei shot from outside the box, and the ball hit the crossbar and came back into play.
The game soon became a stop-start contest for control, with plenty of tactical fouls and neither side able to take charge. The Desert Warriors were the first to find a way through. In the 20th minute Judah Garcia got into the box and beat goalkeeper Padam Chettri, but his shot went just over. Garcia then sent a direct free-kick off target, and Pranjal Bhumij’s low shot made Padam dive at full stretch before it went wide. Those three chances in five minutes showed Rajasthan gradually taking control.
Samaleswari’s best opening came in the 34th minute. Yoihenba’s free-kick was not cleared, and Gope palmed away Mohammed El Jaaouani’s first-time shot. Rajasthan had the clearest chance of the half two minutes before the break. Shimray’s free-kick reached Sabir Musa at the far post, and Padam came off his line but could not reach the ball. Musa’s header bounced up near the line and went over the bar.
The first half had started directly, but the second began more cautiously, with both teams keeping men back. It took a moment of invention to break the deadlock. Rajasthan worked a short corner, and Shimray carried the ball into the box from the right. Instead of looking for a team-mate in the middle, he shot from a very tight angle. The ball beat Padam at his near post and went in off the woodwork.
The goal changed which side had to take risks. Samaleswari now needed to come forward, and Rajasthan found more space. Four minutes later Shimray was back in the same position and sent a low cross across the six-yard box, but no one was there to meet it. Soon after, Thapa had room to shoot from the left of the area. Padam could not hold the shot, and Shimray could not keep the rebound on target.
Samaleswari kept pushing. In the 61st minute Jorge Pereyra Diaz worked his way into the box despite close marking and went down as he waited for a chance to shoot. The Argentinian and his team-mates appealed for a penalty, but the referee waved play on. In the 76th minute Christopher Kamei had time in the final third and hit a long-range shot that came back off the crossbar.
Samaleswari put together several promising moves in the closing stages, but Rajasthan dealt with them calmly. They neither sat deep nor attacked relentlessly. Instead they picked their moments to go forward, and moving Garcia into midfield was central to that approach. His presence and physical strength gave Rajasthan control in the middle. They gave up some territory, but they kept a firm hold on the central areas in front of their own goal.
Three minutes from time, Samaleswari lost the ball in their own half. Shimray ran down the left and swung a precise cross to the far post, where Brijesh held off his marker and headed in. Samaleswari pressed until the end, and deep into stoppage time Veer Arjun Joshi’s lob from the edge of the box found El Jaaouani at the far post, but Amrit Gope made a brilliant save to preserve the clean sheet.
Samaleswari SC host Nagaland United SC at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium in Rourkela on Thursday, November 19, while Rajasthan United FC play Chanmari FC at the Vidyadhar Nagar Stadium in Jaipur on Friday, November 20.
–IANS
hs/
