Prayag United SC climbed to third place in the I-League table with a facile 2-0 win over Shillong Lajoing FC in a penultimate round I-League fixture at the Kalyani Stadium today.
All the action was confined to the first-half as United got the lead through Ranty Martins' goal from a spot-kick in the 20th minute, while Shylo Malswamtulunga settled the issue seven minutes later.
Ranty stayed as the top-scorer in the league with 25 goals.
United SC with 41 points from 25 matches pipped Pune FC to be behind league leaders Churchill Brothers and East Bengal, while the Shillong outfit remained at 10th with 25 points from as many matches.
Pune FC though have four more matches left in the competition. Both the teams wasted chances in the first 10 minutes before Lajong conceded a penalty when goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte brought down Kayne Vincent inside the box in the 17th minute.
Ranty converted the spotkick without much fuss to give them a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, Ranty set it up for Vincent who made a run behind the defence and made a square pass to Malswamtulunga who slotted it into an empty net.
Both the teams had some fine chances in the second-half but the goalkeepers, Subrata Paul of United SC and Ralte of Lajong, stood out under the bar.
Paul thwarted a brilliant effort from substitute Kamimura diving to his left in the 65th minute while Ralte made a superb save of Ranty in the 70th minute.
