Bagan check Dempo tempo

MARGAO, JANUARY 17: Title aspirants Mohun Bagan lived upto expectations by downing a spirited Dempo Sports Club 3-2 on Monday to remain in...

MARGAO, JANUARY 17: Title aspirants Mohun Bagan lived upto expectations by downing a spirited Dempo Sports Club 3-2 on Monday to remain in contention for the title in the fourth edition of the National Football League.

Bagan played the dominant role at the Nehru Stadium here and took the lead in the 14th minute of play when a James Singh shot beat an advancing Dempo ‘keeper after deflecting off defender Mario Pereira.

Dempo fought back in the last quarter of the first half and restored parity through Kannan Priolkar (41st minute) to go into the interval with scores levelled 1-1.

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Bagan, dictating terms in the mid-field in the second half, went ahead in the 60th minute through Dipendu Biswas.

Substitute Ramires Baretto then made the issue safe for the Calcutta giants in the 87th minute, a minute before Mohammed Reza found the target for the local team.

With this win, their fourth in eight matches, Bagan are now fourth in the table with 15 points, the same as Mumbai’s Mahindras who are third on bettergoal difference.

Dempo, who have a better record in earlier matches — they held JCT (0-0), East Bengal (1-1) and Tollygunge Agragami (0-0) — suffered their third home defeat and are placed at the bottom with four points from eight matches.