Asim Biswas' late strike propelled three-time champions Mohun Bagan to a 2-1 win over city rivals Tollygunge Agragami as the curtains came down on the first phase action of the ninth National Football League in Kolkata on Sunday.
Bagan, who have put up a lackluster show so far this year, earlier took the lead through Basudeb Mandal before Gouranga Dutta restored parity for Tollygunge in the Salt Lake stadium exchange.
Bagan's hard-earned win, coming after a lean three-match stretch during which they went down to Vasco and drew with lowly SBT and Salgaocar, pushed up their points tally to 15 from 11 games. Tollygunge, on the other hand, remained on 11 points from the same number of games.
The match saw Bagan start strongly and create some early chances as Tollygunge relied on fast counter attacks in the first session, which ended 1-1.
In fact, Tollygunge were unlucky not to have taken a 2-1 lead by the breather as Surojit Bose's shot hit the post in stoppage time.
The second session, however, clearly belonged to Bagan who kept their opponents on the defensive and came close to scoring on several occasions before sealing the issue in the dying moments to get the much-needed three points.
Man of the match Mandal, who played brilliantly in the midfield making full use of his years of experience, drew first blood as early as the 14th minute with a rasping sudden 22 yard shot.
The surprise element in the shot baffled Tollygunge custodian Arindam Ghosh and the ball beat him on the right and entered the net.
Tollygunge showed more enterprise after conceding the goal, and in the 33rd minute Nigerian Akeem Abolanle set up Suley Musah with a measured square pass, but the Ghanaian's effort landed in the safe hands of Bagan goalkeeper Subroto Pal.
Tollygunge succeeded in drawing level in the 44th minute as a Suley Musah floater from the right was headed by Surojit Bose but the ball crashed into the post. Gouranga Dutta, who had been following the ball, calmly put the rebound home.
Tollygunge got an early chance in the second session, with Akeem feeding Surojit Bose, whose shot was blocked by Pal.
Bagan then piled on the pressure and midway into the half a long ball from Mandal was well received by Asim, who got past Isiaka but then shot straight to the goalkeeper.
Ten minutes from the final whistle, substitute Sunil Chhetri found himself in an advantageous position, but Musah proved equal to the task as he quickly put the ball out of play for a corner.
But Bagan finally clinched the issue in injury time when Tomba Singh addressed a fine pass from the middle to Asim, who cleverly shielded the ball from Musah and waited for the goalkeeper to come out of his charge before diagonally tapping it into the far corner of the net.
