Mahindra United too good
for F C Kochin

Star-studded Mahindra United called the shots right through to notch an easy 2-0 victory over F C Kochin in a sixth National Football League encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi on Satuday.

After a barren first half, striker Nigerian Bala Usman scored the first goal through a header, off a brilliant free-kick by Jules Alberto Dias in the 46th minute.

His striking partner, Nigerian Austin Okolo sealed the fate of the match in the 59th minute.

With this win, Mahindra United increased their points tally to 15 from eight matches while FC Kochin remained at nine from as many matches.

The strong Mumbai outfit could have won the match by a much higher margin had their strikers, especially substitute Abhishek Yadav been on target. The lanky Yadav fumbled with three chances in quick succession midway through the second half. On all the three occasions he had Kochin 'keeper Ali Abubakar out of position, but he wasted the chances with feeble attempts that went wide of the target.

At the other end, the home team showed promise in the first session and got a couple of chances but their strikers, V P Shaji and Sushanth Mathew, were slow in latching on to the ball inside the rival box.

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