The Strikers responded to friday evening’s disappointment by picking up a comfortable 2-0 win against Sellebrity FC thanks to goals from Arsalan Hamdulay and Rakesh Patne at the Neville D'souza Football Ground, Bandra.
MS boss Maclin D'penha had hoped to see a reaction from his side after their crushing 1-0 loss to ICL as he made three changes to the side as Reuel Kunder, Arsalan Hamdulay and Sandeep Manoharan all came into the starting 11. Top half placed Sellebrity FC came into the match in winning form as they had beaten Kenkre FC 2-1 in their previous encounter.
After a quiet opening twenty minutes, MS opened the scoring when winger Akshay Devadiga dribbled past his marker close to the goalline, providing a cutback into the six-yard box for Arsalan Hamdulay to score his second goal of the season.
On a fast break in the 26th minute, MS were awarded a penalty as a reckless challenge by the Sellebrity defender on Akshay Devadiga left the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. The resultant penalty was calmly converted by defensive midfielder Rakesh Patne as his precise low bottom placement left the keeper on his heels. Sellebrity FC did have a couple of half-chances come and go but the MS defenders were unrelenting.
MS went close to extending their lead even further after the restart but Arsalan Hamdulay's placement fell right in the hands of the Sellebrity keeper. Another chance went begging as MS striker Sandeep Manoharan broke free through the centre with only the keeper to beat, but his low shot hit the midriff of the Sellebrity keeper and went out of bounds.
Sellebrity FC threatened with a superb free kick from outside the box midway through the second half, forcing a superb save from MS keeper Abhishek Singh. Sellebrity FC weren’t able to capitalise on their chances up the other end and MS had a great chance to score a third as a superb delivery from the corner was crying out to be converted. Amit Koli managed to keep his header on target only to see it ricochet off the crossbar. After a few frantic final minutes, MS were able to hold on and secure the much needed win.
Victory for the Strikers saw them go to 13th place on the standings. MS take on 4th placed Iron Born - CFCI in their next game on Sunday afternoon.
