Mumbai giants Mahindra United beat a lacklustre Hindustan Aeronautics Sports Club 1-0 to set up a quarterfinal clash with Sporting Clube-de-Goa in the 29th Federation Cup here on Wednesday.

Steven Dias, one of the heroes of India’s title victory in the recently concluded Nehru Cup, scored the winner in the 10th minute.

Earlier, Sporting did just enough to ward off the challenge from Army XI with the help of a solitary goal from Kenyan Bonface Ambani in the sixth minute.

Mahindra took control of proceedings from the start with Dias and Ajayan Nair running the show in the midfield while N P Pradeep gave another solid performance. The lone goal for the 2005 champions was a delightful example of teamwork.

Mohammad Rafi passed to Minga Edson Congo, who gave the ball to Pierre. Latter found Dias at the right edge of the box. The midfielder created space for himself and let go a hard shot in the bottom left corner of the goal past custodian Gumpe Rime.

Chances for Aeronauticsmen were few and far between, and those too were wasted due to the poor ball control of their players. Kuttimani found himself with just keeper to beat but his 35th minute chip went over the bar. Dias was unlucky not to score a second when his powerful shot just after restart came off the crossbar.

Sporting edge Army

Earlier, an unimpressive Sporting Clube-de-Goa huffed and puffed to a 1-0 victory over a fighting Army XI but the performance of the Goan outfit would not ring any alarm bells among their prospective opponents in the competition.

Ambani’s sixth-minute strike did propel the side to the quarterfinals at the Guru Nanak Stadium but the Goan outfit looked far from menacing in the match.

Sporting started brightly and did not have to wait long to go ahead. Ambani received a pass from Joseph Pereira on the right flank, allowing him to have a clear run on goal past an out of position K P Kamui and he made no mistake in finding the net past Army custodian Robikanta Singh.