Mohammedan Sporting came back from being a goal behind to beat holder FC Goa 3-1 in the opening match of the Durand Cup 2022, at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Tuesday.
Goa went in the lead late in the first half through Muhammed Nemil but Sporting struck thrice after the break to pick up the full quota of points.
Pritam Singh, M. Faslurahman and Marcus Joseph were on target for the home side.
FC Goa, which fielded a developmental side, nudged ahead in the 34th minute thanks to a solo effort by its key attacker Muhammed Nemil, who surprised the home side with an angular shot after wrong-siding the latter’s goalkeeper, Sankar Roy. The lone goal remained the only bright point in the opening half as both sides struggled to find their way into the attacking third.
Sporting had two quick chances coming its way around the half-hour mark but Pritam Singh and Marcus Joseph failed to locate the target despite getting close.
The change of ends saw Mohammedan Sporting doubling its efforts to cancel Goa’s lead and found its initiative paying off in the 49th minute. Pritam Singh made up for missing an easy chance in the first half as he punched home a nice left-footer to bring up the equaliser.
Persisting with the attacks Mohammedan Sporting found the lead in the 84th minute as two second-half substitutes Abhash Thapa and Faslurahman combined effectively to bring up the goal. Mohammedan Sporting, which lost the final against Goa last year, got the third goal in injury time when Marcus Joseph tapped home from a nice cross from Faslurahman to make the win look convincing in the end.
The result:
Group A: Mohammedan Sporting 3 (Pritam Singh 49, M. Faslurahman 84, Marcus Joseph 90+3) bt FC Goa 1 (Muhammed Nemil 34).
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