After its loss in the earlier round, Pune FC rebounded strongly to floor Air India 2-0 while defending champion East Bengal worked up a fine comeback to beat Hindustan Aeronautics SC (HASC) 2-1 in group ‘A' of the 32nd Federation Cup at the Barabati Stadium here on Thursday.
Hamza Amaba put HASC in the lead after a well-orchestrated attack in the eighth minute. He found the mark off a cross from the midfielder Rohit Chand.
East Bengal came back strongly after the early setback and found the equaliser in the 14th minute when Orji Penn struck the target off a fine solo effort. East Bengal forged ahead in the 34th with its Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey firing a fine left footer to find the net.
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East Bengal preserved the lead successfully as HASC was reduced to 10 men when its defender R. Srikanth was red-carded in the 67th.
The win put East Bengal on six points from successive wins. With only a round to go East Bengal needs a draw against Pune FC to make it to the semifinals.
Earlier, goals from Reisang Pammi and Paresh Shivalkar in the first quarter of the action did the trick for Pune.
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The fluent attacks through the right flank, made effective by the combination of Othallo Tabia and Izumi Arata, fired Pune to two quick goals even before Air India could settle down.
Pune seemed to have shaken off the hesitancy that saw it sink by a solitary goal against Bengaluru's HASC in the opener. The blandness of the previous outing was replaced by a recipe of pace and cohesion.
Opening goal
After a couple of abortive sorties, the third attack saw a flurry of quick passes ending with a Reisang Pammi left-footer into the net in the third minute.
The Pune offensive continued in the same vein as the team worked up variations inspired by the game-making skills of its central half K. Ajayan.
The Tabia-Arata combination came to the fore effectively in the 16th minute when the two swapped positions exchanging passes before the former sprinted into the Mumbai zone to let go a neat cross across the goalmouth.
Paresh Sivalkar made no mistake with a smartly flicked header that beat the custodian Kunal Sawant.
Air India came close to scoring in the 23rd minute but midfielder Praneel Mendon made a mess, sending a feeble effort that Pune goalkeeper N. Balaji cleared.
Pune could have enhanced its scoreline but for its Brazilian striker Edmar Figuera who saw a couple of his attempts going wide from close.
The win helped Pune remain in the hunt for lone semifinal spot from the group while Air India, suffering its second loss, was out of the tournament.
Elsewhere, both the group B matches in Vasco (Goa) ended in draws with Viva Kerala holding Chirag United SC 2-2 and the Sesa Football Academy boys stalling the redoubtable Churchill Brothers 1-1.
In Ludhiana, Dempo picked up its second successive win beating the AIFF juniors while ONGC got it past JCT Mills 2-1 in the other match.
The results: Group A (Cuttack): Pune FC 2 (Reisang Pemmi 3rd, Paresh Shivalkar 16th) bt Air India 0; East Bengal 2 (Orji Penn 14th, Tolgay Ozbey 34th) bt HASC 1 (Hamza Amaba 8th).
Group B (Vasco): Viva Kerala 2 (Sabeeth C.S. 35th & 53rd) drew with Chirag United 2 (Josimar da Silva 45+2 (pen) & 88th); Churchill Brothers 1 (Okolie Odafa 2nd) drew with Sesa Football Academy 1 (Lezly Fernandes 16th).
Group C (Ludhiana): Dempo SC 2 (Ranti Martins 14th (pen) & 79th) bt AIFF XI 0; ONGC 2 (F. Lalmuanpuia 15th & 81st) bt JCT Mills 1 (Ajay Singh 74th).