Mohun Bagan scrape past Punjab Police

Title aspirants Mohun Bagan rode on the brilliance of their striker Jose Barreto to scrape past Punjab Police by a solitary goal in a sixth National Football League match at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.

The star Brazilian recruit produced a gem of a goal midway through the opening session to seal the fate of the spirited policemen, in a match which seldom rose to great heights.

The green and maroon brigade, desperate to secure full points to improve their position on the points table, did not live up to their awesome reputation but still managed to tame the policemen, who have not been able to make much of an impact in the league so far.

With this victory, Mohun Bagan have 15 points from eight matches while Punjab Police have just three points from as many outings.

The home team began with a flourish with a series of raids from both the flanks but could not get the match-winner till the 30th minute of the contest.

The skilful Barreto saved the day for the glamour club as he produced a brilliant side volley from inside the box, giving no chance at all to the Punjab Police custodian Satish Kumar.

The home team could have won by a bigger margin had their forwards not muffed a number of gilt-edged opportunities that came their way, particularly in the second session.

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