Mahindra defeat Chirag 1-0

Kolkata, Dec 18 (UNI) Mahindra United needed to search the depth of their guts to defeat Chirag United by a solitary goal in a pre-quarter-final encounter of the 28th Peerless Federation Cup at the Salt Lake stadium here today.

Chirag did well to keep the Mahindra forwards at bay for whole of the first half, but NP Pradeep saved the day for the jeepmen, scoring in the 79th minute. Mahindra had the early advantage and they mounted pressure on the Chirag goal from the word go.

But custodian Sibram Dey put up a scintillating display and was at ease dealing with the pressure. As early as the 14th minute, Manjit Singh took a shot from outside the box, which just went wide.

Nine minutes later A K Ajayan shot rattled the cross bar, as Mahindra showed their intention. Half of the Chirag team had fallen back to do some desperate defending.

Pralay Dutta came in as a replacement and blocked a Manjit blinder to keep the score level. The loose ball fell for Mohammed Rafi, but again there was Dutta, narrowing down the angle and making it impossible for Rafi to score.

Five minutes from then, Dutta was again there to deny Rafi, what was a sure goal. Yusif Yakubu also missed a seater for the Mumbai outfit.

A Yakubu-Ajayan combination split the Chirag defence in half ten minutes later, but Yakubu's finish was again far from satisfactory.

Dutta was again the man who denied him. But his valiant fight took a beating a minute later, when Pradeep outjumped the Chirag defenders to head home the winner from a Steven Dias corner.

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