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Dempo SC consolidated their place at the top of the I-League table beating Pailan Arrows 2-0 at the Yuba Bharati Krinangan in Kolkata, on Sunday.
For the winners Ranti Martins scored both goals in the 53rd and 83rd minutes. For Pailan Arrows, goalkeeper Naveen Kumar was sent off in the 34th minute which turned out to be critical in the match.
The match started off in a rough manner with Clifford Mirando of Dempo SC and Bikramjit Sinha and Prathamesh Maulingkar being cautioned with yellow cards within the first three minutes of the match.
In the 9th mintue of the match Anthony got the first chance of the match with a header which went over the bar. It took about 20 minutes for Dempo SC to start putting together their passes and Pailan Arrows can be credited for some good positive thinking and attacking play over the first quarter.
Pailan suffered a big blow when Naveen came off his line and out of the box but brought down Koko the Dempo SC forward resulting in a red card. Just a minute earlier he had pulled off a good save off a shot form Perriera.
Dempo SC broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Ranti Martins scored off a cross from Valeriano Rebello.
Pailan brought in striker CS Sabeeth l5 minutes later as they pushed forward for an equaliser. However, Dempo SC had the last laugh as they scored again in the 82nd minute when Ranti Martins scored his second of the match with neatly finishing off a cross from Periera.
Pailan move to 43 points from 20 matches while Pailan stay on 8 points.
Salgoacar edged out Sporting Clube
In Goa, Salgaocar SC defeated Sporting Clube de Goa 2-1. Beevan D'mello scored first goal for Salgaocar in the 24th minute only for Tomba Singh to double the lead in the 65th minute. Sporting's Kalu Ogba reduced the margin in the 66th minute.
Courtsey the win, Salgaocar move to 36 points while Sporting stay on 30 points.
Chirag United Kerala stun Air India 3-1
In Pune, Sukhwinder Singh and David Sunday inspired Chirag United Kerala to a 3-1 win against Air India despite being down by one goal early.
Sandesh Gadkari had put Air India ahead in the fifth minute of the match, but despite controlling the match, it was Chirag United who had the last laugh.
In the 31st minute, Charles Dzisah scored the equaliser off a spot kick that inspired the Kerala team to go up the ante. Sukhwinder Singh put Chirag United ahead in the 65th minute off a rebound following a corner and then Sunday made it 3-1, three minutes from the full time as the Kerala team scored their second win on this ground after having beaten Mumbai FC 2-0 last month.
Three full points took Chirag United to 14 points from 19 matches, three behind Mumbai FC, but with a match in hand. The two teams are competing to stay out of drop zone with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore, already scrapping at the bottom. The loss meant Air India stay on 27 points and No 9 position after they fell to ninth loss.
Pune FC sail past Prayag United
Pune FC pulled off a remarkable win despite going down late in the first-half against Prayag United SC to leapfrog two places in the League standings after a 2-1 win in the I-League match at the Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune.
Yasif Yakubu had put Prayag United ahead in the 41st minute with a blinder from about 30 yards which Pune FC custodian Amrinder Singh least expected, but the Man-of-the-Match Keita Mandjou headed in an equaliser four minutes into the second half to bring the home team back on track.
Both Keita and Douhou Pierre worked relentlessly upfront and created several chances as Prayag felt the heat, before Karma Tsewang scored the winner in the 71st minute to send the crowd into delirious celebrations.
With three full points from this match, Pune FC moved to 34 points while Prayag United stayed on 32 points as the League takes 40-odd-day break before restarting on March 24.