Lae City embarrasses Lautoka with an unforgettable performance

Lae imposes a real humiliation to Lautoka from Fiji. The Fijians were not able to hold the likes of Nigel Dabinyaba and Raymond Gunemba suffered as they seven goals from the current PNG National Soccer League champions – and it could have been much more.

The game started balanced between the two sides: both Lae and Lautoka could get to attack, but only Lae was able to be dangerous to Lautoka’s goalkeeper Liam Anderson. Lae’s head coach Peter Gunemba made five chances in this team in comparison with the first match against Henderson Eels. He introduced the goalkeeper Matheson Nasa, the full-backs Emmanuel Airem and Joshua Oscar and the midfielders from Ecuador Gustine Vergara and Abdias Aguirre – and his changes seemed to have a real impact.

In the 23th minute of play, the Ecuadorian Aguirre made a beautiful one-two play with Nigel Dabinyaba to set Dabinyaba free in front of the goalkeeper. The number 9 made no mistake and put Lae ahead in the scoreline.

And it was just the beginning of Lautoka’s nightmare. Raymond Gunemba found the nets for the first time in the competition at the 37th minute to extend their lead to 2-0. The third goal was scored by Emmanuel Simon after an excellent assist from Gunemba at the 44th minute. Two minutes later, Lautoka defense just watched Simon to pass through the entire defense and score the fourth. Obert Bika – who replaced Gustine Vergara in the first half – received the ball free in the box to score the fifth. Lautoka suffered four goals in only 10 minutes just like Brazil in the 7-1 loss against Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinals.

Lautoka was only able to have a decent shot on goal with Shazil Ali in the last moments of the first half. The match was already over for the Fijians. Despite coming different for the second half, Lautoka was clearly already beaten: the key defender Jason Thomas was subbed in the first half due to technical reasons, showing how bad the situation is.

It did not took long for Lae to find the net again. Gunemba received a very good ball, passed the defender and lobbed the keeper to score a tremendous goal for his side, the sixth in the process. A few minutes later, Obert Bika received the ball in the area and found Nigel Dabinyaba free in the 6-yard-box to just tap the ball into the goal – it was the 7th and last goal of the clash.

The scoreline could have been even bigger; the goalkeeper Liam Anderson made at least four crucial saves in the final moments of the game. Lae City did not put much effort in the second half as they had clear goal opportunities that their preciousness did not allow them to score even more goals. Lautoka had one clear goal opportunity in the final minutes of the game, but it was saved by the new introduced goalkeeper Matheson Nasa.

Lae has now four points in the group and is close to seal their spot for the next round of OFC Champions League, while Lautoka will need a win in their final group match against Henderson Eels if they want to keep any chance of proceeding alive.