The Hindu : Sport / Football : Mahindra and Mohun Bagan score wins

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Monday, Nov 20, 2006
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Mahindra and Mohun Bagan score wins

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI : It was not thrill a minute but it was thrilling. Mohun Bagan won; so did Mahindra United; none was surprised or shocked at the Ambedkar Stadium as the Osian's Durand Cup football tournament lived up to its reputation.

The spectators thronged the venue, anticipating some rousing stuff from Barreto, the Brazilian with electric feet. He marshalled Bagan's 2-1 win over Sporting Clube-de Goa in Group I.

"I am happy we won. The youngsters (Ayan Choudhury, Bijoy Basfore, Manas Das, Goutam Debnath) were impressive. What can I say of Baretto. He was the livewire," said Bagan coach Biswajit Bhattacharya.

Superb goal

Baretto crafted the goal of the tournament thus far. A sensational header on the run, created from an ordinary free-kick floater by L. Bhowmik. "It was important to win. I wanted to play some good football," gushed Baretto.

There was no doubt he played good football, the kind that the crowd would cherish. He shook off the markers in a flash and played his heart out, lording over the field and directing moves that began from deep.

Bagan and Clube-de Goa probed each other, waiting to stab, for most of the period, until Dulal Biswas finished a move in the 76th minute that started on the left and ended in a goal. Two minutes later Baretto produced that gem with his head.

A breakaway move saw Macpherlin Dudu dent the Bagan defence when he rolled the ball in to gloriously finish a through ball by Earnest Jeremiah. The goal contrived to create excitement but failed to alter the course of the contest. It ended in Bagan's favour.

Mahindra tamed Air-India 2-1. Filipe Azevedo netted both the goals in the first half for Mahindra, both in clinching combination with Yusuf Yakubu. Air-India hit back through Paresh Shivalkar. But Mahindra was not rocked further.

The results: Mahindra United 2 (Filipe Azevedo (2) bt Air-india 1 (Paresh Shivalkar).

Mohun Bagan 2 (Dulal Biswas, Baretto) bt Sporting Clube-de Goa 1 (Macpherlin Dudu).

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