Mohun Bagan took a step closer to the Hero I-League title with a 2-0 win over Sporting Clube de Goa in a 19th round match at the Vidyasagar Stadium in Barasat on Saturday. It was sweet revenge for Bagan as it had lost its away game 2-1 at Margao.
With its 11th victory, Bagan took its tally to 38 points from 19 outings. Sporting Clube remained on 20, after suffering its seventh loss.
The packed stadium witnessed a dreary first half as the players, with some wayward passes, suffered in sweltering heat.
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It took a while for the host to settle down and twenty minutes into the second half came the first goal. Sehnaj Singh produced a perfect grounder in the 65th minute off a free kick. Sehnaj proved to be a worthy successor to Haitian Sony Norde, who is a free-kick specialist, finding the gap in the defensive wall with a perfectly placed shot.
The host raised its game after the goal and put pressure on the rival defence. The sustained pressure got Bagan its second goal through Player-of-the-Match Norde, who dribbled past two defenders and stabbed the ball home.
Odafa Okolie tried his best to find the target, but was heavily marked by the Bagan defence. Yet, the former Bagan star showed his class with a fine free kick in the added time but Bagan custodian Shilton Paul was equal to the task
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Paul was called upon to stop another valiant attempt before the final whistle.
The results: Mohun Bagan 2 (Sehnaj Singh 65, Sony Norde 77) bt Sporting Clube de Goa 0.
At Margao: Dempo FC 1 (Uttam Rai 77) drew with Bengaluru FC 1 (Robin Singh 65).