After a long hiatus, Mahindra United, Mumbai finally tasted success cruising to a 2-0 win over fancied Dempo, Goa in the 16th round of the Oil PSU National Football League at the Cooperage ground, in Mumbai Tuesday.
Coming up with an improved performance, Mahindra scored early in the first half and fired in a spectacular goal in the second, to steal a much sought-after win.
Brazilian recruit Nei Junior gave the Mumbai side the lead off a ninth minute penalty and striker Samson Mongba completed the tally with a neat header in the 53rd minute.
Desperate for victory, Mahindra registered their fourth win to take their points tally to 17, with five draws and seven losses.
Enjoying a much better position in the league, Dempo crashed to their fifth loss and remained on 23 points, following six wins and five draws.
Dempo set a fast pace from the word go and with Mahindra going through a bad phase, looked in better shape to collect full points from the match. Mahindra, under immense pressure to register a win, matched their rivals as they combined much better than they did in their previous outings.
Following a good move initiated in the centre, international Debjit Ghosh was set to score when he was brought down at the goalmouth by Dempo defender Ratan Singh.
Singh received one of six yellow cards flashed in the encounter for the illegal tackle and Nei Junior went on to beat Dempo goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal from the spot.
But Dempo were not perturbed. They pressed hard for the equaliser and came close on three occasions.
Dempo impressed with their short and swift passes and ignored a Khalid Jamil volley in the 25th minute that almost swelled the Mumbai side's lead.
The Goan outfit was unlucky in the 22nd minute when Bijen Singh saw his crisp volley from outside the box being saved by Odarty Lawson on the goalline and Mario Soares, who found the net off the rebound, was called for off-side.
Playing as a defender from his withdawn forward position, Lawson impressed with remarkable first-time clearances that went a long way in warding off the Dempo threats. In the process, Lawson earned the man of the match award for an outstanding performance.
Dempo went into the half-time trailing 0-1, but not before their Sri Lankan recruit Channa unleashed a powerful 20-yard left foot volley that was saved by Mahindra custodian S Rajan.
Another chance came their way a little later, following a dangerous Channa centre, but Mahindra's Khalid Siddique cleared at the expense of a corner before Soares and Dempo's Brazilian recruit Jose Luciano could do the damage.
With Mahindra desperately holding on to their lone goal lead and Dempo striving hard for success, Debjit Ghosh initiated one of the best moves in the 53rd minute that appropriately ended with Mongba swelling the tally with a spectacular finish.
Ghosh found James Singh on the right and the latter brilliantly evaded Dempo defender and captain Stanley Colaco to essay a low centre for Mongba to lunge forward and head home.
That goal served to dampen Dempo's spirits and their last noteworthy effort arrived in the 73rd minute when substitute Levy Coelho failed to connect a header following a Bijen Singh cross from the left.
With everything going right for Mahindra United , they were understandably upbeat, and looked forward to take on fancied Tollygunge Aggrami, Kolkata in their next Mumbai tie on March 6.
