Real Kashmir open campaign with win against Rajasthan United

Real Kashmir began their I-League 2024-25 season with a 2-0 victory over Rajasthan United FC at the TRC Ground here on Sunday. Both goals came in the first half. Mohammad Inam (11th minute) and Senegal recruit Elhadi Abdou Karim Samb (28th) scored for the Snow Leopards, who finished fifth in the I-League table last season. Real Kashmir had a dream start to their season when the wily Inam was played through on the left by Samb. The winger attempted a hard, low cross, which took a deflection before bobbing into the goal, completely wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

With the one-goal advantage, Real Kashmir looked to sit back and capitalise on any mistakes by Rajasthan. Samb ran into some space as he was played behind the Rajasthan defence, but was bundled over just outside the box. While the hosts could not capitalise on the resulting free-kick, they were soon to have other opportunities.

Samb was the biggest beneficiary of this plot in the 28th minute, when he intercepted a back-pass by Rajasthan defender Wayne Vaz and poked it past goalkeeper James Kithan to double the home side's advantage. With a two-goal cushion on their hands, Real Kashmir slowed down the pace of the game, choosing to be patient in their approach till the end of the first half.

After the break, the home side relied heavily on their wingers to stretch the play and bombard the Rajasthan box with crosses, a ploy that did cause some trouble to the latter. Samb could have had a hat-trick with pin-point crosses coming in from the left. Mohd. Aqib's low, hard cross from the left flank was straight at Samb, who had crept into some space at the near post. He had just the goalkeeper Kithan to beat, but the latter did well to cover the angle and get a hand to the shot.

Real Kashmir were thoroughly in control of the game during this period, and captain Kamal Issah could well have added one more, after being played through behind the defence, with just the goalkeeper to beat. However, Issah's effort landed in the galleries. Samb had his third chance in the 79th when a deep cross came in from the left. However, the unmarked striker mistimed his header, which lacked the required power to trouble Kithan.

Inam was a constant thorn in the Rajasthan flesh -- especially their right side. His frequent change of pace and trickery meant that Real Kashmir could make multiple forays into the opposition area, especially on the counter. While Rajasthan did show some intent in the dying minutes, the hosts were in too comfortable a position to ease their grip on the game, as Real Kashmir notched their first victory of the 2024-25 I-League season. PTI AH AH PDS PDS