Mohammedan Sporting scored a surprise 2-1 victory against formidable East Bengal, who tasted their maiden defeat, in a Super Six round match of the Kolkata Super Division football league on Sunday.
Veteran striker S K Sanjib and substitute Abdur Rauf Khan scored a goal apiece for the winners while Nigerian Mike Okoro found the target for a depleted East Bengal at the Salt Lake stadium.
Sporting, who were reduced to 10 men after skipper Dipendu Biswas picked his second yellow card midway in the second session, put up a resolute fight to garner home full points after a dismal run in earlier stage of the league.
East Bengal, on the other hand, seemed to have lost their steam due to the absence of a number of key players, including star striker Baichung Bhutia.
After a barren opening half, Sporting took the lead in the 49th minute.
Hussain Mustafi gave a nice through to Rauf, whose powerful shot rebounded off East Bengal goalkeeper Sandip Nandi before Sanjib, lurking nearby, netted home from close.
Barely two minutes later, East Bengal restored parity in a similar fashion as Okoro, getting the rebound off a Suley Musah volley inside rival box, slotted home past a helpless Sporting custodian Amar Deb.
Desperate to snatch victory, Sporting kept up the pressure and finally struck the winner six minutes before the long whistle, when Rauf, getting a neat pass from Biswas, raced into rival box, dogded past two defenders and rammed an angular shot that went into the net.
