JOIN USFresh from their surprise 1-0 win over Durand Cup runners-up JCT in their opening fixture, HASC were off to a flying start with Vijesh Kumar PU scoring in the 22nd minute, while man of the match J Murali produced the matchwinner in the 81st.
Jose Ramirez Barreto scored the lone goal for Mohun Bagan in the 31st minute.
Desperate for a win, Stanley Rozario’s boys began on an aggressive note, but the coach’s worst fears came true with HASC drawing first blood to give the giants a testing time at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan’s artificial turf. Without their star striker Edeh Chidi, who is down with a hamstring injury, Barreto and Subair Muritala Ali failed to click and found the chances hard to come by.
The Bangalore side found the opening goal through a goalkeeping mistake, with the Bagan custodian Sangram Mukherjee failing to stop a tame effort from Vijay Kumar.
Ten minutes later, Barreto stole the ball from HASC defender Liliyan Kennath to slot it into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
Just after the break, HASC’s Xavier Vijaykumar missed a fine chance in front of the goal as his leftfooter went straight to Bagan goalkeeper Mukherjee. Just when the match seemed headed towards a draw, HASC struck through Murali to leave the Mohun Bagan camp shocked.
From a Vijaykumar centre, RC Prakash headed the ball right onto the oncoming Murali’s path who fired it home.
The now buoyant HASC looked for another, but Prakash’s shot in the dying minutes hit the crosspiece to give Mohun Bagan some relief.
At Panjim, former champions East Bengal beat defending champions Dempo 1-0 with Tolgay Ozbey being the scorer.
At Gurgaon, AIFF XI drew 1-1 against ONGC. Babatunde scored for ONGC while Jeje Lalpekhlua equalised.
Mumbai FC scored a 2-0 victory over Pune FC with the goals coming from Kuttimani (19th) and Ebi Sukore (51st).