Mohun Bagan down Viva Kerala 3-1 in Federation Cup

Ludhiana, Sep 9 (UNI) Defending champions Mohun Bagan were in full flow today as they defeated Viva Kerala 3-1 in a quarter-final match of the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup Football Tournament at the Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

Scorers for Mohun Bagan were Jose Ramirez Barreto (16th), substitute Ishfaq Ahmed (40th) and Pachau Lalram Puia (56th). The lone goal getter for Viva Kerala was P Sajesh (51st).

In the 82nd minute, Othallo Tabia of Viva Kerala and Ishfaq Ahmed were shown yellow cards following verbal exchanges and pushing.

Earlier, dominating the proceedings, Bagan established a good 2-0 lead at half time. The Kolkata gaints meant business from the beginning threatening the Kerala goal in the third minute.

Following a throw-in, however Bagan's Shanmugam Venkatesh misdirected his shot from outside the box. Viva Kerala had a narrow escape five minutes later as Jose Ramirez Barreto's bicyle kick sailed over the bar.

Another abortive move by Bagan came in the 13th minute but Venkatesh's shot was too weak to beat Viva Kerala custodian T G Purshothaman.

The hard-working Bagan players met with their initial success in the 16th minute. Barreto dived forward to connect a header of Peter Odafe which beat custodian Purshothaman. The move was initiated by James Lukram Singh who sent a cross to Peter Odafe via Dharamjit Singh.

One minute before the half time, Bagan got their second goal through substitute Ishfaq Ahmed, who came in place of Dharamjit Singh in the 36th minute. As Viva Kerala defender Othallo Tabia was beaten by a long ball, opportunitist Ishfaq Ahmed capitalised on the chance to score in the 40th minute.

Viva Kerala, who had an impressive record last season, were not disheartened despite being two goals down. They got their goal in the 51st minute as P Sajesh dip-in long ranger crossed over the head of Bagan keeper Sangram Mukherjee.

Mohun Bagan retaliated in the 55th minute and scored their third goal through Pachau Lalam Puia. James Lukram Singh shuffled the ball from the right to the left foot before sending it into the box.

Barreto missed it but Lalram Puia did not make any mistake to find the target.

Teams: Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee, Habibur Rehman Mondal (57th Suman Datta), Anit K Ghosh, Peter Odafe, Rauf Sher Khan (71st, Sanjeev Kumar Maria), James Lukram Singh, Mohammed Gafari, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh (36th Ishfaq Ahmed), Jose Ramirez Barreto, Pachau Lalram Puia.

Viva Kerala: T G Purshothaman, P Sajesh, Khelemba Singh, Othallo Tabia, V Lalu, Parveen Rawat (46th, O K Javeed), Sunil Kumar Thakur, Sargolsem Jamesh Singh, Bimanyu Bimal Barua (79th, Shine Raj , Sabbarayan Satish Kumar, Santa Saikhom Singh (58th, Shabbaz Shaleel).

UNI