Mohammedan Sporting sailed past a youthful Jamshedpur FC side 3-0 in a Group A league match to pick up its second successive win of the 131st edition of the Durand Cup, at Kishore Bharati Stadium on Sunday.
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M. Faslurahman, Abhishek Halder and Sheikh Faiaz found the target once each to help Mohammedan Sporting collect the full quota of points. The local side tallied six points to reach top of the current group standings and remained one of the favourites sides to claim a quarterfinal berth.
Mohammedan Sporting dictated the pace of the action in the opening half and earned the goal off a corner in the 38th minute. Sheik Faiaz set a nice floater in the box that was met with a sharp header from the tall defender Sairuatkima. Jamshedpur goalkeeper Mohit Dhami managed to block the attempt but Faslurahman was lurking close by to nod the rebound home.
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The young Jamshedpur side made a determined bid to find the equalizer and came close in the 42nd minute when Vinil Poojary set up Lalruatmawia free inside the Mohammedan Sporting box. But the Jamshedpur forward failed to keep his shot on target and found the ball rebounding off the upright.
Mohammedan Sporting came up with a greater resolve after the break and appeared to overwhelm the inexperienced boys of Jamshedpur FC’s reserve team.
Mohammedan Sporting doubled the lead in the 71st minute when substitute Abhishek Halder scored from a nice chip completely fooling Mohit Dhami, who was charging out to block the attempt. Faiaz took the match beyond the visitor’s reach in the 74th when he slotted home a nice through pass from Marcus Joseph to complete the scoring process.
The result:
Mohammedan Sporting 3 (M. Faslurahman 38, Abhishek Halder 71, Sheikh Faiaz 74) bt Jamshedpur FC 0.