Man of the match Nicholau Borges scored in each half as Dempo Sports Club humbled Mohun Bagan 2-0 in the fifth round of the ONGC I-League at the Nehru stadium in Margao on Wednesday.
After their fourth league win, Dempo continued to remain at the top of the table with 13 points from five matches. Bagan, who lost their third match, remained on four points.
Dempo started in right earnest with short passes and Brazilian Roberto Mendes Silva sounded the first warning with a power-packed shot from the top of the box which hit the upright and rebounded into play.
Dempo took the lead in the 15th minute. A move down the right flank saw Anthony Pereira sending a deep cross into the box for unmarked Nicholau Borges who hammered the ball into the net.
Bagan took time to settle down and launched a series of raids and Jose Ramirez Baretto forced Dempo keeper Sailesh Kumar to tip the ball over the bar.
Later, Bhaichung Bhutia, who combined well with his Brazilian strike partner, was unlucky to see his shot hit the post.
Soon after resumption, Bagan keeper Shilton Paul made two saves.
First he tipped the ball over off a goal-bound cross from the right by Anthony Pereira. Two minutes later, he again pushed the ball out off a Silva header from close.
Bagan, who lost two matches earlier, were desperate to find the equaliser and pushed another man in the striking zone, bringing in Ishfaq Ahmed in place of Subhasish Roy Chowdhury. They were unlucky not to find the equaliser in the 50th minute when Baretto's header hit the post.
Dempo kept on the pressure and doubled the lead in the 71st minute.
Defender Valeriano Rebello, who did a lot of running down the right flank, send a cross into the box for Edeh Chidi which keeper Shilton Paul charged out to intercept but failed. The ball went to the unmarked Borges who slammed the ball into the empty net.
Referee Ahmed Amees showed yellow cards to Bagan's Ishfaq Ahmed, Peter Siddiqui and Dempo's Edeh Chidi.
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