Kolkata: Odafa Okolie proved the savior yet again for Mohun Bagan as they registered a 2-1 victory over Mumbai FC in the 20th round of I-League football at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday while title aspirant Churchill Brothers managed a 1-1 draw against bottom placed HAL, Bangalore, in the 20th round I-league football match at Nehru stadium in Fatorda.
For Mumbai FC, Friday Gbeneme scored in the 24th minute, while Odafa scored a brace in a space of seven minutes for Mohun Bagan in the 74th and 81st minute.
The match started off with Mumbai FC looking the better of the two sides with some creative work by their midfielders and forwards.
Cavin Lobo took a fierce shot in the 22nd minute that went wide but showed Mohun Bagan what was in store. Friday Gbeneme scored the opening goal of the match when he received a long ball, outmuscled Anwar Ali in the Bagan defense and scored off a neat finish, shocking the home team.
Odafa nearly levelled the score before half time in the 34th minute, when he received a long ball from Anwar but Mumbai FC goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh pulled off a diving save to put the ball out for a corner.
Things looked bleak for the Mohun Bagan as the Mumbai FC defense held strong and it looked like they would pull off another upset win.
In the 81st minute of the match goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh misjudged a cross and Anwar headed it down tamely for Odafa to complete the final finish and put Bagan into the lead with only nine minutes left.
In the other match, HAL shot into the lead as early as in the 8th minute from the start of play through Jagaba Amaba and hanged on to the lead till 86th minute when Churchill’s Roberto Mendes Silva managed to restore parity in the 87th minute. (Agencies)
