KOLKATA: Home is where Mohammedan Sporting's heart appears to be.
After suffering two back-to-back losses — both matches being on the road — Mohammedan Sporting returned to winning ways in their ongoing I-League campaign, beating Manipur's Neroca FC 3-1 at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Wednesday.
Andrey Chernyshov's side went into the break with a 1-0 lead through David Simbo's own goal. But Neroca made it 1-1 soon after the break. Marcus Joseph and Faslurahman Methukayil then scored two late goals to seal the deal for the Kolkata side.
Both Mohammedan Sporing and Neroca are now three points each after the third round.
Aiming for their maiden I-League title, Andrey Chernyshov's CFL champions got off to a disappointing start, having lost to Gokulam Kerala and Punjab FC in their first couple of matches. But on returning to their home base for the season, their fortunes turned for better when their early pressure paid off in the 40th minute.
Kean Lewis, who was quite effective down the right flank, sent in a cross and Neroca captain Simbo headed it into his own net while dealing with the threat.
Neroca's Uzbek midfielder Mirjalol Kasimov, however, brought things on level terms, curling a well-timed strike into the top corner, giving goalkeeper Sankar Roy with no chance in the 58th minute.
With 10 minutes to go, the imperious Marcus came to his side's rescue when he drew a foul from Neroca's James Singh inside the box, leading to the penalty. The Trinidadian made no mistake in converting it from the spot.
Faslu then clinched the issue in the 88th minutes, dribbling past two defenders before curling it in from a tight angle.