KOLKATA (India): Mohammedan Sporting qualified for the 2020-21 I-League after they beat Bhawanipore FC 2-0 at the Kalyani Stadium near here on Friday.
The black and white returned to the competition after a gap of seven years.
Goals from Vanlalbiaa Chhangte and Gani Nigam gave them a remarkable victory with one round of fixtures still to play.
The win takes Mohammedan, who last played in the I-League in the 2013-14 season, to nine points with one match to play, three ahead of Bhawanipore, who have one game remaining on the final day.
However, they cannot overtake Mohammedan owing to an inferior head-to-head record after today’s result.
The first half of the ‘virtual final’ began in a fiery manner right from kick-off and in just the third minute, Mohammedan Sporting looked destined to take the lead through Chhangte.
The ball fell to the right-winger inside the box from a free-kick and he launched a powerful shot on goal from close range, only to be denied by a diving Shilton Paul, who made a terrific reflex save.
The opportunity set the tone for the rest of the game between the two local rivals as Mohammedan kept more possession and Bhawanipore looked to play on the counter-attack — a strategy which had paid rich dividends for Sankarlal Chakraborty and his team in their two previous games.
Midfielder Firoj Ali came close to finding the target from long range for the Black Panthers in the 18th minute, with his shot being blocked away for a corner.
Six minutes later, Bhawanipore’s star forward Philip Adjah almost gave his side the lead on the other end of the pitch.
Latching on to a weak clearance, the Ghanaian targeted Priyant Singh’s near post from the edge of the penalty area but saw his effort get deflected, hit the post and go back into play. (Source: AIFF)
