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Mohammedan Sporting of Kolkata and Mumbai's Air India emerged winners of their group league encounters on the inaugural day of the 114th IFA Shield football tournament, which was played on Sunday.
In group B, Sporting defeated Shillong's Lajong FC by 1-0. An early strike from Dipendu Biswas led Md.Sporting to victory. The match was played at the Mohun Bagan ground.
Air India took over Pune FC by 2-1 in a group D tie at Howrah Municipal Stadium. N.D.Opara and Ravinder Singh scored the goals for Air India while, while Arata Izumi made the sole goal for the Pune team.
Dipendu Biswas scored the winning goal for Sporting in the 14th minute by putting in a pass from Brazilian Edu.
Michael Bassey was the only silver lining for Lajong who repeatedly harassed the Sporting defenders.
In the other match, the airmen netted the first goal in the tenth minute.
Japanese Arata scored the equalizer for Pune FC in the 48th minute.
But the deadlock lasted for only eight minutes with Air India earning a penalty corner. Ravinder Singh scored the winning goal for Air India.
