A last-gasp goal from substitute Manjeet Singh ensured that Salgaocar would avoid being relegated to the second division, as they came back from a goal down to beat Mahindra United 2-1 in a Round of 25 I-League clash at the Cooperage on Monday.
Wild celebrations followed as soon as Manjeet netted the winner in the fifth minute of injury time. The striker, who came on as a substitute just a couple of minutes before full time, latched on to a through ball from the left and beat a couple of defenders before slotting it past Mahindra ‘keeper Monotosh Ghosh.
With 30 points from 25 matches, the Karim Bencherifa-coached side leapfrogs to eighth place on the table and are six points clear of the red line with just one more round to go.
Mahindra, on the other hand, remain stagnant on second but their position is under threat as Churchill Brothers are level on points with them and have more matches in hand. Muritala Ali put the Mumbai side ahead in the 29th minute but the lead was cancelled out by Salgaocar’s Nigerian striker Ekene Ekenwa three minutes before half time.
Salgaocar looked fairly good with their passing and were cohesive in their approach play, especially from the wider areas. Mahindra, playing with a slightly different formation struggled early on to establish their passing game as they were guilty of losing the ball quite cheaply. Salgaocar, instead, looked more threatening with their attacking play while creating clear-cut opportunities.
Dias, Rafi for Churchill
Mahindra United’s Steven Dias and Mohammad Rafi have agreed to a two-year deal with Churchill Brothers, who were dethroned as the I-League champions by Dempo on Sunday. While Rafi has already signed the dotted line, Dias is believed to finish the deal in two days’ time.
