Mumbai outfits Mahindra United and Air India overcame spirited challenges from Goa teams to set up a quarter-final meeting in the Tata Federation Cup football tournament in Kolkata on Monday.
Mahindra scored a 1-0 victory over Haywards Sporting while Air India got the better of Dempo 2-1.
Vinay Kuruvilla and Anthony Fernandes scored a goal each for Air India, while Jose Colaco found the target for Dempo in an exciting encounter at flood-lit Salt Lake stadium.
Dempo took the lead through a penalty in the 22nd minute. Latching on to a loose ball, striker Alex Ambrose found himself in the clear and cut into the rival box. In desperation, Air India right-back Santosh Koli tripped Ambrose and referee N Mohan pointed to the dreaded spot. Jose Colaco converted from the spot.
Air India, though having the lion's share of exchanges in the first-half, missed a number of chances and Dempo led 1-0 at half-time.
But the Mumbai outfit seemed a rejuvenated lot after the breather and drew parity in the 48th minute when a Binoop M K long throw was fisted by Dempo custodian Satish Kumar before Kuruvilla netted with a snap right-footer.
Buoyed by the goal, Air India kept up the momentum and went ahead five minutes later as Koli's power-packed 35 yarder saw Kumar fumble with the collection. As the ball slipped out of his grasp, Anthony Fernandes, lurking close by, tapped the ball in.
Abhishek Yadav nets winner for Mahindra United
In the earlier match, promising striker Abhishek Yadav found the target for Mahindra United with a fine header in the 76th minute to send Haywards crashing out of the tournament.
Following a James Singh cross from the right, Yadav outjumped two Haywards defenders to head home in a flash only 14 minutes after he was brought on as a replacement for Jules Albarto by coach David Booth.
Well-served by their strong midfield and the two African recruits -- Ghanaian defender Odartey Lawson and striker from Togo, Raphael Patron Akapko -- Mahindra dominated the exchanges in the first-half, though both sides got an even number of chances till the breather.
However, Haywards came closest to scoring on two occasions but the woodwork stood in their way. In the 33rd minute, Avinash Thapa's 20-yard chip hit the post after the ball was fisted by Mahindra custodian Sunder Rajan.
Two minutes later, a Thapa header again hit the post before Alvito Rodrigues's rebound was returned from the goal line by seasoned Mahindra defender Covan Lawrence who, in fact, had a very good day as he effected another goal-line save in the second-half.
Haywards launched a series of raids in the second session but got a look-in only thrice as the Mahindra defence held firm.
The first chance of the day came Hayward's way but Alvito's header sailed over following a centre from Sudanese mid-fielder Kamal Suliman.
But as time wore on, the Mahindra midfield -- manned by James Singh, Khalid Jamil and S Venkatesh -- started controling the game, constantly feeding the upfronters with fine passes.
In the 32nd minute, Mahindra got another opportunity as a James Singh corner went to Jules Albarto but the latter headed over the bar.
Venkatesh muffed up a rosy chance seconds before the first-half whistle. A Jules centre from the right found Venkatesh in the clear but he shot over from close.
Haywards got two chances early in the second-half, but while Nigerian striker Amaechi Tochukwu's shot from top of the box went straight to Sunder Rajan, a Joseph Pereira effort was saved on the goalline by Lawrence.
