Defending champions Salgaocar Sports Club of Goa will take on Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in the first semi-final of the Durand Cup football tournament.
Salgoacar, who were in a must win situation, beat Air India by a solitary goal, scored by Bhuvan Joshi in the 77th minute, to top Group A, while 16-time winners Bagan got the better of State
Bank of Travancore 3-1 in a Group C match at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on Friday.
State Bank, fielding a host of players who won the Santosh Trophy for Kerala, including medio Abdul Naushad and striker S Ignatius, matched their fancied rivals in the first half but faded away in the second as Bagan asserted their superiority in style.
The Bank team, which will again feature in the National Football League this season, stunned Bagan in the 28th minute through striker Abdul Hakeem and kept the Kolkatans at bay till medio Noel Wilson equalised with a classy strike in the first-half's added time.
The spectators saw a totally different Bagan in the second half as they dominated the session from start to finish.
Bagan went 2-1 up in the 58th minute through Mehtab Hussain, who had an excellent game, and settled the issue five minutes from full time when Brazilian defender Eduwardo Chacun out-jumped his markers and headed in a corner kick.
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