MPL: Aizawl down Chanmari in semifinal first leg

KOLKATA: Aizawl FC beat Chanmari FC 1-0 in the first leg of the Mizoram Premier League semifinals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Aizawl on Tuesday.
After a goalless first half, Isaak Vanlalruatfela scored for the defending champions in the 73rd minute as Aizawl earned their first win against Chanmari in this edition of MPL.
Jonathan Lalramhmunmawia played a long ball from the left flank to Isaak near the penalty box and he made no mistake of putting it into the net past the incoming Chanmari goalkeeper.As for the defenders, they were nowhere near Isaak as he used his right foot to score the only goal of the match.
Aizawl could have won by a bigger margin but William Lalnunfela missed two great opportunities to score in the first half. Lalnunfela had also missed some easy chances during the game against Mohun Bagan and he will have to pull up his socks before their next game.
The two teams will now play the return leg on December 11 at the same venue.
While Chanmari will be well rested before the game, Aizawl will be travelling to Imphal to play against NEROCA FC on December 6 and then will go to Goa to take on Indian Arrows on December 9 in the I-League before coming back to Aizawl to play the second leg tie.
Speaking after the match, Aizawl coach Stanley Rosario said, "I am very happy with the performance and now we have to shift our focus to the NEROCA game."
Meanwhile, in the other semifinal Chhinga Veng FC will take on Electric Veng in the first leg on Wednesday at the same venue.