Mahindra United in semi-finals

A fine brace by Jose Ramirez Baretto guided Mahindra United to a convincing 4-2 victory over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited en route the semi-finals of the 27th Federation Cup football tournament, at the Nehru stadium in Margao, Goa, on Sunday.

All the goals came in the first half, with Baretto (15th, 36th minutes), Steven Dias (19th) and N S Manju (21st) scoring for the Mumbai champions and Sunil getting a brace of goals, in the 22nd and 34th minutes, to reduce the margin for HAL.

S Venkatesh of Mahindra United was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

After seeing HAL playing a defensive game in their last match against Dempo, Mahindra attacked with three strikers. Coach Derrick Periera's strategy helped them as they took an early lead in the 15th minute.

Venkatesh, who controlled the midfield along with Baretto, initiated the move from the right and gave a pass to Subhas Chakraborty, who sent a low cross from the right to Baretto, who headed the ball home.

Four minutes later, Steven Dias increased the lead when his shot from the top of the box hit the right post and landed into the net off a pass from Venkatesh.

Mahindra piled pressure on their opponents and scored another goal when N S Manju found the net with a header off a free-kick taken by Steven Dias.

However, the Mahindra defence relaxed following the goal and HAL shed off their defensive approach and attacked to reduce the margin through a brace from Sunil, who first beat keeper Sandip Nandi with an angular drive off a Janny Freedy pass in the 22nd minute and then scored again in the 34th.