The tetchy match saw nine yellow cards flashed by the referee. The previous meeting between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw in Shillong.
Amit Chakraborty scored first for the hosts in the 23rd minute before Everbrightson Mylliempdah equalised in the 59th. Another goal 20 minutes later by Player of the Match Amit Tudu gave all 3 points to United.
Coach Bobby Lyngdoh Nongbet started with the exact same line-up that trounced Diamond Rock of Madhya Pradesh in the last fixture but they couldn’t repeat the same level of success.
Prior to this match, Lajong had 10 points and United 8. SLFC thus needed just a draw to maintain their advantage going into the final group stage matches while a win would have sent them through to the next round as Group B winners.
However, defeat means that United are now in front on 11 points and have the advantage as they will meet bottom side Diamond Rock in their last group game on Saturday. The same day will see Lajong take on East Bengal reserves in Shillong.
Lajong will thus need to beat EB and hope that Diamond Rock pull off a miracle on their home turf with at least a draw in Balaghat.
Only the top team from each group will go through to the final round along with the overall best second-placed club across the four groups.
