Army SC took down Crystal Palace in an easy 3-1 win in their group A match in the Dialog Champions League.
Striker Issadeen placed 3 goals within the 1st 45 minutes of the game. A young Crystal Palace side was no match for an experienced Army team.
Clumsy Crystal Palace depended too much on their overseas players who couldn’t perform well without the support of their teammates. However Nigerian star Isaac Aba scored the only goal for his team. 
Sohan Nawarathne, an inexperienced goalkeeper and his silly mistakes let down Crystal Palace. Opponents took advantage of this which made them score 3 goals easily. No players were above 25 in Crystal Palace which shows how inexperienced they were with most of them being schools boys. Yet the 2nd half passed out goalless which meant Crystal Palace had improved and settled down in the game.
Army team has been continuously carrying on the same side for few years which has more team work than any other team in the competition. Center-back Bandara Warakagoda and Danushka Wijesiri were on top form as usual.
Meanwhile left footed striker, Chameera Mendis was out due to hamstring injury and will not be playing for few months. Left winger T. Lakmal performed a key role during the game as he assisted Issadeen in 2 goals and on the right wing, former Hameed Al Husseini College captain Mohamed Rimzan played exceptionally well.
It was a one sided game from the very first minute. 10 out of 11 players of Crystal palace were defending for the team and whenever they got the opportunity to attack, it was only Isaac Aba on the front line which was impossible for him go past four defenders.
Goals opened up in the 15th minute when Rimzan crossed a long pass right into to the box which was collected by Izzadeen. Hat-trick hero dribbled past the goalkeeper and rolled over the ball towards the nets.
Crystal Palace got their first chance to attack when Rimzan gave away a free kick by tackling a player from the back. Striker Isaac Aba took the free kick which hit the wall. Few minutes later Isaac got another chance to attack by a through pass from center midfielder Mohamed Rizwan. Army goalkeeper Kumara Sirisena tapped away Issac’s shot. Striker Shimarq failed to convert the rebound.
Army scored their second goal in a counter attack in the 28th minute. Center Midfielder Nadeeka Pushpakumara’s lob-pass to winger Lakmal which went on to Issadeen by a beautiful cross where Issadeen scored his second goal with a powerful volley without any second thoughts.
5 minutes later, while Issadeen was running past the defenders Lakmal made a through pass where Issadeen eventually ended up one on one against the goalkeeper. It did not take that long to score the 3rd and final goal for Army when Issadeen dribbled past the goalkeeper and booted.
Isaac scored the first and only goal for Crystal Palace 10 minutes before the short whistle. A free kick above the penalty box was perfectly targeted and shot which hit the top bar and turned on to touch the nets. That was the only opportunity which touched the Army’s nets during the entire game.
Army yet had the lead during the breather 3-1.
Having had a bad first half, Crystal Palace stepped on to the field in a much different way. Second half turned out to be much more pressurizing for the Army defense. Overseas stars Jean Francois and Isaac outplayed the Army defenders when they went on quick passes which couldn’t be stopped. But the finish was not completed with a goal.
Right winger Rimzan was awarded a yellow card for tackling an opponent from the back. Both teams had equal chance of attacking during the second half. During the latter stage of the game players began to play carelessly which made the other players lose interest in the game. Army won the match when the final whistle was called with 3 goals to 1.
ThePapare.com Man of the match: Mohamed Issadeen
