I-League: Top five relegation deciders

Mohammedan Sporting 2-2 United SC (March 7 2009)

Mohun Bagan legend Subroto Bhattacharya guided United SC to safety in their debut campaign

Four clubs were promoted from the second division for the 2008-09 I-League and two of them were Kolkata’s Mohammedan Sporting and United SC (called Chirag United back then). Mohammedan were making their return to the top flight after two years while it was the debut campaign of United SC. Both sides were expected to struggle with survival being the priority and thus the two direct meetings were always going to be crucial. United SC won the first encounter 1-0 and going into this reverse fixture they had a five-point advantage over Mohammedan, who were in the drop zone.Three of Mohammedan’s remaining four fixtures were in Goa so they desperately needed to get maximum points from this to stand any chance of staying up.

However United SC, coached by Mohun Bagan legend Subroto Bhattacharya, started the game strongly and went in front through Muritala Ali. The purple shirts could and should have led by more at the break but were wasteful and also hit the woodwork. Mohammedan Sporting equalised in the second half through Suraj Mondal but Sankar Oraon restored United SC’s lead. A moment of individual brilliance from Mike Okoro made it 2-2 but Mohammedan couldn’t find the winner. This point proved to be vital for United SC as they stayed up despite picking up fewer points than Mohammedan in the final four games.