New Delhi: In what was a thrilling affair at the Cooperage Stadium, Mahindra United snapped their first three points of the season as they beat East Bengal 3-2 in their second round I-League match.
Mahindra United made no changes to their squad while Yusif Yakubu started on the bench for East Bengal while Subhash Bhowmick had an Indian line-up.
Both teams took time to settle as the field was soggy with the first opportunity falling to Muritala Ali only at the end of the first quarter when his left footed attempt from outside the box saw Abhra Mondal dive full stretch to his right.
Renedy Singh looked to reproduce magic from his right foot as his free-kick from 25 yards forced Subashish Choudhary to palm it for a corner.
East Bengal were lucky not to go behind in th 28th minute as Govin Singh’s misclearance fell to Mohammed Rafi whose bicycle attempt came off the crossbar.
The very next minute saw a quick counter attack wherein Alvito showed brilliant control and slotted the ball home to give his side the lead.
Thereafter, the home side applied relentless pressure with Mehrajuddin wadoo saving the visitors with a last ditch tackle to deny Svetozar Mijin.
The equaliser came in the 34th minute with steven Dias' curling ball from the left being headed into the back of the net by Muritala Ali.
The Nigerian scored his second in the 43rd minute, putting his head to good use again with Pradeep providing the service from the left.
With Yakubu’s introduction in the second session, the Red and Golds did have some attacking verve going upfront.
Muritala Ali should have completed his hat-trick when Steven Dias found him in acres of space but the former Chirag player sent the ball way over the bar.
In the 64th minute came the best moment of the game when Yakubu started the move, released Nirmal Chhetri at the only moment when the right back went up for attack, and on receiving the return ball sent it past Subashish Choudhary to restore parity.
The Ghanaian continued to play a key role as he found Harmanjot Khabra inside the box but the midfielder couldn’t find a way past his marker.
The substitution of Mahindra's Serbian recruit Svetozar Mijin gave Pradeep more license to go forward, and it paid dividends when the Jeepmen surged ahead with Pradeep unleashing a fierce right footer from 30 yards after Mehrajuddin Wadoo’s clearance went only as far as his Indian team-mate in the 75th minute.
The visitors could have equalised for the second time in the game but Bhaichung’s header in the 83rd minute went straight into the hands of Subashish Choudhary.
East Bengal gave a good account of themselves after a disappointing start against Pune FC and having not trained for the last three days. The home side would be satisfied to brush past the Kolkata giants despite their mistakes at the back, but they deserved the win for all their attacking play.
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