A late goal against the run of play by Sumeet Passi helped Sporting Clube de Goa prevail over Mumbai FC 1-0 in their Federation Cup first leg football tie at the Cooperage ground, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Passi scored with a diving header in the 89th minute to be declared the man of the match.
The two teams will meet in the second leg clash in Goa on May 4.
The first half of the play was largely insipid with both teams unable to force the pace.
Subash Bose of Sporting and Sushil Kumar Singh of Mumbai FC, who was substituted by Ryuki Kozawa midway through the second half, were booked for fouls.
The match-winner was notched by Passi against the run of play. A snap counter saw substitute Victorino Fernandes sending a low cross from the right, which was headed in with a forward dive by Passi.
Sporting clearly missed their injured main striker Odafa Onkolie.
Shillong Lajong beat East Bengal 2-1 in Fed Cup football
Shillong Lajong FC scored an upset win by beating East Bengal 2-1 in the first leg of the their Ftie at the JN Stadium in Shillong.
Chinglensana Singh (33rd minute) and Fabio Pena (62nd) scored for Lajong minute while Do Donghyun found the target for East Bengal in the 44th minute.
Lajong, who had beaten East Bengal last Sunday in their final I-League match here, now have an advantage before their away game against the same opponents on May 4.
Englishman Trevor Morgan thus began his second stint as East Bengal coach with a loss. Morgan, who coached East Bengal from 2010-13, succeeded Biswajit Bhattacharya who had resigned following their poor form in the I-League.
The home side were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute after Robin Gurung was given marching orders for elbowing East Bengal substitute Avinash Ruidas. The visiting team, however, failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority in the remaining period, including a seven-minute stoppage time.
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