Barak FC defeated Nagaland United Sporting Club (NUSC) on penalties 3-1 in the playoff match 2 after the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the ongoing Nagaland Super League (NSL) on Wednesday at Chumoukedima Football Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thousands of football fans packed the Ch\u00fcmoukedima Football Stadium on Wednesday to witness a high-stakes showdown between two NSL giants, Barak Football Club (BFC) and Nagaland United Sports Club (NUSC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this win, Barak secure a direct spot in the finals, while the losing team Nagaland United SC would get another chance to qualify by facing Longterok FC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before kick-off, match officials, players, and NSL governing committee members wore black armbands in memory of late N. William Koso, who tragically passed away in a car accident on March 25. The match began with high intensity from both teams but their attempts were defended. A misplaced pass by NUSC\u2019s right defender nearly led to an opening for Barak FC, but his teammates managed to clear the ball away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NUSC also had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Jenish (8) attempted a shot from a promising position, but it went off target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barak FC finally broke the deadlock in the 25th minute when Laiwang (21) scored with a well-placed shot inside the penalty box. The ball passed through multiple players before finding the back of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, NUSC came close to equalizing in the 27th minute from a corner kick but could not capitalize from the free header inside the penalty box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second half, NUSC started the game aggressively, creating several scoring opportunities within the opening minutes. A well-placed cross inside the penalty box found their forward, but he failed to control the ball, allowing the Barak defense to clear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Barak FC\u2019s Henhen (2) received the first yellow card of the match after a mistimed sliding tackle. In the 59th minute, Laiwang (21) almost doubled Barak FC\u2019s lead with a powerful strike from the left flank, but the shot was denied by the crossbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NUSC had multiple chances to level the score, including a well-placed free kick in the 65th minute just outside the penalty box, but Barak FC\u2019s defense remained stern. As the clock ticked down, NUSC desperately pushed for an equalizer. With seven minutes of added time, they launched wave after wave of attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just when it seemed like Barak FC would hold on to their lead, NUSC lived up to their reputation as the \u201cComeback Kings\u201d, when, in the dying moments of injury time, NUSC\u2019s captain, S Salym (4) capitalized on a cross to score a dramatic equalizer, sending the match into extra time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 30 minutes of extra time saw both teams creating multiple opportunities but failing to capitalize. The best chance to take the lead was received by NUSC in the final minutes when Shlok (9) found himself inside the penalty box with the ball in his leg, but he failed to get a shot away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barak FC also had their own chance to seal the match from a free kick on the right flank, but the shot, taken was blocked by NUSC\u2019s defensive wall. A last-minute corner kick for Barak FC also resulted in a free header, but the ball was deflected out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With neither side managing to score, the game was decided by a penalty shootout. During the penalty shoot, NUSC\u2019s penalty takers struggled under pressure, missing three of their four attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barak FC\u2019s first two shooters also failed to find the back of the net, but it was their captain, K Peseyie, who stood up to the task to score the first penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a 3-1 win in the shootout, Barak FC sealed their spot in the NSL final, leaving NUSC with one last chance to fight for a place in the title match against Longterok FC, which would be played on March 29. Later, BFC\u2019s goal keeper Dziese (1) was awarded the man of the match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barak FC defeated Nagaland United Sporting Club (NUSC) on penalties 3-1 in the playoff match 2 after the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the ongoing Nagaland Super League (NSL) on Wednesday at Chumoukedima Football Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":477753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40753],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sport-nagaland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}