Bagan hit back to force draw

Dempo took their tally to 22 points from 17 matches with this draw to remain in the sixth position.

All the teams would play their last match at five different venues on March 22. However, for Mahindras 5 pts, today8217;s result is of no importance as they are placed at the bottom of the table.

Dempo surged ahead in the 25th minute through striker Francis Silveira, who was later replaced by Braja Mohan in the second half.

Gautam Ghosh consolidated the lead in the 40th minute to have Dempo leading 2-0 at half-time.

Mohun Bagan dominated the match in the second half and reduced the marginin the 63rd minute through medio Satyajit Chatterjee, who got the ball on the top of the box via a defender after Roshan Pereira failed to score.

Bagan kept on mounting pressure from the flanks and restored parity through R P Singh.

Bagan coach TK Chattunni did not field his trump card Nigerian Chima Okorie because he did not want to risk him for the last match as he had received one yellow card earlier. After changing over, the Dempo mid-field played defensively which allowed Bagan to take full control over the match.

The Calcuttans made forays deep into the rival half from both the flanks with RP Singh making fines run down the flank and sending crosses into the box, but found it hard to beat Man-of-the-Match Itocha Singh and Christopher in the defence.

Soon Bagan netted the reducer. Sri Lankan striker Roshan Pereira fell while trying to take a shot at the goal and Christopher8217;s clearance came straight to Satyajit Chatterjee and he beat 8216;keeper Ansari with a grounder.

Goaded by the success, Baganpressed hard for the equaliser. In the 40th minute an RP Singh shot kissed the cross bar and went out.

Bagan brought in David Takoo and Ranjan Chawdury for Debjit Ghosh and Dipankar Biswas and camped in the rival box.

In the 42nd minute, Ansari failed to parry a curling shot from RP Singh which went into the net. Ansari made the mistake of advancing forward and failed to read the flight of the ball.

Salgaocar 29 pts, another hot contender for the title, will take on JCT 20 pts at Delhi. A loss for Bagan against Mahindras and a win for Salgaocar will see Salgaocar lifting the title as they would finish with 32 points.

If Bagan draw and Salgaocar win, then both the teams will end up with 32 points each and their goal difference also will be equal. But Salgaocar will emerge winners on account of more goals scored.