The Hindu : Sport / Football : Sporting downs Mahindra

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Sporting downs Mahindra

Principal Correspondent

KOLKATA: Mohammedan Sporting scored its first win of the I-League football tournament beating Mahindra United by a solitary goal at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Friday.

Nigerian striker Mike Okoro dealt the decisive blow with a brilliant goal in the 74th minute.

Mahindra United missed many scoring opportunities.

The home side tallied five points from five matches while the visitor remained on three points from five outings.

Tentative attack

A tentative attack neutralised Mahindra United’s dominance in the first session. Beginning with Steven Dias’s miss from close in the sixth minute, the visitor from Mumbai continued to flirt with opportunities.

Mohammedan Sporting, apparently subdued by the absence of its striker Theodore Wrobeh, preferred to play defensive. With game-maker Nigerian Mike Okoro moved up in a purely attacking role, the home side’s midfield sputtered.

Its defence came precariously close to conceding a goal. But an error-prone opposition attack and the good reflexes of its newly recruited custodian, Tharangachan, helped the host emerge unscathed in the first session.

The Sporting goalkeeper came up with his best save in the 19th minute denying Mahindra striker Douhou Piere.

Mohammedan Sporting showed greater offensive intent following the change of ends. Okoro repeatedly worked his way into the Mahindra area. He ran against Mahindra defender Sushant Mathew in his first attempt in 60th minute.

Okoro next found his header in the 69th minute corner snapped up by the Mahindra custodian Subhasish Roy Chowdhury. The Nigerian made no mistake with his third attempt when a cross from substitute A. Jothi Kumar set him clear inside the striking zone. He chipped the ball over an onrushing Roy Chowdhury to end Sporting’s wait for its first win in the tournament.

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