Bagan, Mahindra United in semis

Defending champions Mohun Bagan rallied from a goal in arrears to down Salgaocar, Goa, 3-1 and advance into the semi-finals of the Federation Cup Football tournament, in Madras, on Friday.

In the semi-finals on Monday, August 27, they meet Bombay's Mahindra United, who got the better of another Goa outfit, Zee Churchill by a solitary goal, scored by Khalid Jamil from a penalty kick in the second half.

In a keen encounter, Salgaocar went into the lead through a goal by Climax Lawrence in the 25th minute of the first half, but within five minutes, Brazilian Ramirez Barretto found the equaliser for Bagan through a peach of a goal. He received a long and high lob from Renedy Singh and beat 'keeper Kalyan Chaubey from the top of the box.

In the 36th minute, the Calcutta giants went ahead after Seriki Abdullateef scored from a rebound. Debajit Ghosh, playing as linkman, took a long shot from the left flank and the ball hit the post and bounced away. Seriki latched on to score.

Crossing over, Bagan increased their tally following a defensive lapse ten minutes from the close. Two Goan defenders failed to clear Renedy SIngh's shot from the right and Seriki Abdullateef darted in and shot home.

Complete Coverage: Federation Cup, 2001