Pradeep's goal helps Mahindra down city rivals Air India in NFL

Mumbai, Feb 23 (UNI) A superb goal by N P Pradeep in the 61st minute saw Mahindra united beat their city rivals Air India 1-0 in the sixth round of the National Football League championship at the Cooperage stadium here today.

Mahindra United's poor finishing restricted the final score to 1-0 in their favour. With this win, Mahindra moved to the top of the league standings with 11 points, while Air India slipped to third with a tally of 10 points.

Both the teams started off cautiously not wanting to give the other the upper hand as play was restricted to the midfield.

However, soon Mahindra asserted their authority over the match, rendering the Air India mid-field redundant as they launched several attacks on the rival citadel.

In the 19th minute, Mahindra had a great chance to take the lead but N P Pradeep missed an open goal with a weak shot. The ball was lobbed towards the goal by K Ajayan which was tipped by Air India goal keeper Raju Ekka straight into the path of Pradeep who missed a golden opportunity.

In the 29th minute, Pomeyie Mensah once again missed a sitter when he headed wide with an open goal in front of him. He relayed the ball from the right by Mbaka Dady with a superb defence splitting cross, but Mensah could not take advantage of it.

After the change of ends, Mahindra continued to attack and in the 47th minute a good move down the right initiated by Pradeep saw him pass the ball to Mensah who crossed to Yusif Yakubu but his header went wide of the mark.

Mahindra were then finally rewarded in the 61st minute when a corner taken by substitute Steven Dias went to Pradeep, who with a superb angular header, found the net to put his side in front.

Air India then tried to put pressure on the Mahindra goal in search of the equaliser but the Mahindra defence held firm to give them three full points, while Air India did not get any points.

Two players from Air India received yellow cards-- Suley Musah and Nirmal Chetri, while for Mahindra Pomeyie Mensah received a warning.

UNI