Mahindra United-ITI draw

Mumbai outfit Mahindra United were held to a goalless draw by Bangalore giants Indian Telephone Industries in their opening fixture of the National Football League in Bangalore on Thursday.

In a match where tempers ran high, Mahindra's Farookh Hyder and ITI's Zaheer Abbas were shown the red card in the 38th minute after the interval following an altercation and exchange of blows.

Both teams failed to take advantage of the chances that came their way though due credit must be given to the rival goalkeepers -- ITI's Mark Mascarenhas and Mahindra's Virender Singh, who turned in a fine display.

Mahindra's first chance to score came in the 16th minute. However, S Venkatesh could not connect the ball near the goal post as he fell while trying to tap it in. Nine minutes later, ITI's Nigerian import George Ekeh's feeble shot was easily stopped by the 'keeper.

In the 40th minute after the break, Raman Vijayan's powerful shot was well blocked by Mascarenhas.

Other matches of day 2:
Bagan win with quick goals
HAL hold Vasco

Earlier reports:

Day 1:
Salgaocar take full points from NFL opener
East Bengal rout Punjab Police

National Football League summary