Baichung sees Bagan through

Kolkata, Apr 20 (UNI) A mercurial moment from Baichung Bhutia virtually pushed Mohammedan Sporting out of the elite division of the ONGC National Football League as a 10-man Mohun Bagan defeated them 1-0 here today.

The game was marked by everything that should not have happened.

A red card to Bagan goalie Shilton Pal and then 19 minutes of loadshedding showed Indian football with or withour Mr Joseph Blatter was going nowhere.

After today's defeat, Mohammedan Sporting are at the penultimate spot on the league table with only three matches to go.

The black-and-white brigade had started off menacingly with veteran Basudeb Mondal and Cameroonian Guy Ndem wresting away the midfield battle from their much-fancied rivals. But they were bogged down by the lack of finishing prowess and Mohun Bagan escaped unhurt after a gruelling first half.

To make matters worse, Mohun Bagan custodian Shilton Paul was given marching orders six minutes from the break after he handled the ball outside the penalty box to stop Mondal from scoring from a one-on-one situation.

Experienced Sangram Mukherjee was brought in, replacing Brazilian Fabio Cortez Vidal.

Three minutes after the lemon break, the floodlights at the Salt Lake stadium, which have been a source of embarrassment many a times, gave way again. Half of the lights went out creating looming shadows in the middle.

Referee Mr S Suresh stopped play, and after an agonisingly long wait of 19 minutes the match resumed.

The break did a world of good to Mohun Bagan though, as they regrouped and came out firing on all cylinders. The all important goal came in the 66th minute, with substitute Ayan Chowdhury heading down a Mehtab Hussain floater inside the box and Bhutia hammering home with a stylish side volley.

Two minutes later Mondal laboured out of the field after a hamstring strain and with it any hopes of a possible Mohammedan Sporting comeback went up in flames.

Teams: Mohun Bagan: Shilton Paul, Dulal Biswas, Sanjeev Maria, Meherajuddin Wadoo, D Ravanan, Douglas da Silva, Fabio Cortez Vidal (Sangram Mukherjee, 39), Mehtab Hussain, Lalakamal Bhowmick (Ayan Chowdhury, 65), Jose Ramirez Barreto and Baichung Bhutia (Suman Dutta, 81).

Mohammedan Sporting: Gopal Das, Farooq Haider, Eric Mputu, Subasish Roy Chowdhury, Asim Das (Santa Singh, 80), Jatin Singh Bisht, Basudeb Mondal (Raman Vijayan, 68), Surojit Roy, Sudheesh Muttah, K Kulothungan (Preston Corporal) and Guy Ndem.

UNI