voldemort

Mahindra made their intentions clear from the start as they always looked to attack.
Ajayan and Douhou were doing all the dirty work in the middle but Mahindra failed to create in the final third and their strikers – Yakubu and Manjit Singh looked out of sorts.
Air India played their natural game of counter attacks and one such attack led to a corner which resulted in the first goal of the match.
Winger Sanju Pradhan sent in a curling ball into the box to find skipper Basheeru Mohd. Abbas who made no mistake in heading the ball into the opponent’s net in the 31st minute.
The first half ended with the same scoreline as Mahindra’s tame efforts couldn’t unruffled the Airmen’s defense.
After the break, Mahindra improved in terms of keeping possession and Steven Dias was brought into play after a quiet first half.
Air India meanwhile, played defensively with Basheeru Abbas retreating deep.
The Jeepmen drew level in the 74th minute thanks to star striker Yakubu who got a perfect cross from the left by Douhou.
Mahindra looked a relieved side from then on and went in for the final kill by fielding another striker Sushil Kumar.
The former Mohun Bagan player did change the game and Mahindra looked better in the final few minutes.
Mahindra had their best chance in the last minute when Yakubu sent in a through ball to Sushil Kumar but the substitute couldn’t make the most of it.
Both the sides were not at their best and need to pull up their socks as soon as possible in their bid to win the I-League.




source:goal.com