Air India finally ended their winless stretch that extended for ten games when they defeated cellar outfit Vasco SC of Goa by a lone second half goal in the 20th round I-League football encounter at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Sunday.
The lone goal in the match, in which the first half was dull and drab with hardly any threatening move coming from either side, was scored by Subash Singh in the 67th minute, his seventh strike in the tournament.
Singh was fed a headed pass by Nigerian striker Emmanuel Ovieghara and he left-footed the ball into the Vasco net. Ovieghara, who has scored just one goal in the entire tournament, had been fed in turn by a cross from the left by Gauranga Biswas.
Late in the match the airmen could have gone ahead by another goal but Surojit Roy hit wide of Soccor Velho's cross.
Vasco's closest chance came on the half hour when AI custodian Arup Debnath dived to his left to stop a long range shot from Minino Fernandes.
The victory boosted AI's point tally to 23 while Vasco remained on ten points and at the bottom of the 12-team table.
