Jaipur, Nov 1 Sreenidi Deccan FC made a winning start to the Indian Football League 2026-27 season edging past Rajasthan United 1-0 here on Sunday.
Nishu Kumar scored the decisive goal for the Deccan Warriors in the 66th minute to start the season with three points.
Rajasthan United started the game with greater energy, using the pace of wingers Thomyo Shimray and Brijesh Giri to test the Sreenidi Deccan defence.
However, the backline, marshalled by the experienced Pritam Kotal and Hadi Idrissou, kept former ISL Golden Boot winner Diego Mauricio quiet.
David Castaneda, in his sixth season with Sreenidi Deccan, came close to breaking the deadlock just before the drinks break, striking the crossbar.
The slow tempo allowed the opposition defences to maintain their shape, and neither team could find a breakthrough as the sides went into half-time with the score still goalless.
Rajasthan made a bright start to the second half, with Christopher Kamei rattling the crossbar with a ferocious left-footed strike from outside the box.
Sreenidi Deccan weathered the pressure and regained control of the game before taking the lead shortly after the hour mark with a well-worked move.
Lalromawia found space on the right wing and played the ball to Adriano Castanheira at the edge of the box. The Portuguese midfielder then laid it off to Castaneda, who threaded a perfectly weighted pass into the path of the overlapping Nishu Kumar.
The experienced full-back kept his composure and curled a fine finish into the far corner to put the Deccan Warriors ahead.
Mauricio came closest to scoring for Rajasthan United when the Brazilian held off his marker and unleashed a powerful right-footed effort from inside the box, only to see his shot narrowly miss the post.
At the other end, Amrit Gope made two crucial saves to deny Castaneda and Brandon Vanlalremdika, to keep the score at 1-0.
(PTI News)
