Three-time champions Mohun Bagan returned to their winning ways after two back-to-back defeats, getting past JCT Mills, Phagwara, 1-0 in a ninth National Football League match in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Striker Asim Biswas scored the match-winner in the first half.
Bagan kept their opponents under pressure for almost the entire stretch of the match and could have finished with a bigger victory margin had their forwards not squandered a plethora of chances to score.
The Kolkata giants got the all-important goal in the 18th minute when Biswas netted a prompt header after a Noel Wilson 30-yarder hit the bar and ricocheted into play.
Only two minutes earlier JCT were lucky to survive as their defender Dhyanesh, in a bid to clear the ball, nearly put it into his own goal. However, much to the relief of the JCT camp, the ball hit the post and came back into play.
Pushed into the defensive, the millmen tried to launch sporadic raids but failed to put the Bagan defence, manned well by central defenders Eduwardo Chacon of Brazil and Nigeria's Ajibade Babalade under pressure.
Bagan, who went down to Goan outfits Dempo Sports Club and Fransa Pax in the last two matches, have now boosted their tally to 10 points from seven games.
The Phagwara side, winners of the title in the inaugural edition of the league, remain on seven from the same number of outings.
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