Zarwan Johar’s stunner was enough as Colombo FC had to dig deep for the 1-0 win against a resilient Matara City Club at Kew-Points road.
Zarwan’s thumping volley from the edge of the box minutes before halftime was the only solace as the hosts; Colombo FC struggled to break the Matara City defense while the visitors fluffed the opportunity to earn a point with the goal at their mercy late in the match.
“Colombo FC is a one of the favourites in the tournament but today we have a lot of injuries and had a hard time choosing the starting eleven. We will be playing a defensive game since we are short of crucial men,” Coach Indika Thenuwara added for the visitors who were beaten 6-2 by Super Sun on the opening weekend.
“We are playing the same formation as we did against Blue Star, 4-1-3-2. Strategy has changed where we will be playing from the wings with crosses. Zarwan is starting, since this is home ground where he started playing and hopes that know how comes in handy today. Madushanka has been given a break but will be on the bench,” Colombo FC coach Roomy mentioned about his plans for the match.
From the outset it was evident that Colombo FC would have a long evening as Matara City played according to plan, defending stoutly and not letting the hosts execute their plans. The confidence flowed to the forwards as Matara City tested and troubled the Colombo FC defense on occasions but was unable to reap the rewards.
On two occasions Bodrie Dimitri danced his way into the box sending the ball across the goal but there were no one to take advantage of it.
It needed a touch of magic if Colombo FC were to score on the day and it came from the local boy Zarwan Johar who learnt his football at this very City Football League ground. Zarwan was fed the ball on the right and with space in front, he volleyed a looping ball over Chandima Sampath which crashed under the crossbar giving Zarwan his first Colombo FC goal. Roomy’s tactics and intentions of starting the hometown hero had worked.
Zarwan should have made it 2-0 just before halftime but he couldn’t connect a cross by Rizni cleanly; after Frank flicked a header into Rizni’s path into the box.
The second half was a dull affair as neither team was able to take control of the match with the state of the ground not helping either. A couple of balls to Frank where he chested down but the efforts were wide; while a goal by Colombo FC was disallowed for a foul by Frank.
With minutes remaining Matara City Club were gifted a golden opportunity to salvage a draw when Mohamed Imran fumbled a routine high ball at the feet of A.M.Prasanna but he could only connect a weak effort which was cleared much to the disdain of the bench.
ThePapare.com Man of the Match: Zarwan Johar
“I expected more from him (Zarwan) but the goal proved to be enough. I had to revert to a 4-4-2 while I cannot blame anyone for the disappointing performance because of the state of the pitch,” Roomy added.
“I expected it to be tougher but our guys did well in defense and attacked also. Zarwan’s effort was good while the keeper was off his line. There has been a big improvement from last match, and we are getting into tournament form and hoping to get a win next week at home,” Thenuwa told ThePapare.com taking the positives from the match.
