Dudu Omagbemi struck late as Sporting Clube de Goa got past title holders Mahindra United 1-0 to squeeze into the final of the 28th Peerless Federation Cup in Kolkata on Tuesday.
The all-important goal came in the 86th minute as Dudu headed in a floating freekick unleashed from the right by Nicholas Rodrigues in the floodlit Salt Lake stadium match.
The Mahindra defenders were largely to be blamed for the setback as Dudu headed relatively unchallenged and the ball entered a corner of the net giving no chance to goalkeeper Sandip Nandy.
Sporting, the better team on view, played cohesively and also carried out several positive moves, missing a few chances in the process.
Mahindra, on the other hand, looked off-colour, particularly in the first session, with their midfield and forwardline failing to drum up a good rhythm.
The jeepmen were reduced to ten men in the 89th minute when N S manju received his second booking for bringing down Dudu.
