AIFF Media Team
Pune, April 1: A 2-0 win over Dempo SC helped Pune FC fair best among the top three teams in Round 22 of the I-League that once again saw leaders Churchill Brothers and second-placed East Bengal drop points.

Derrick Pereira’s side rediscovered their form as they pipped the defending champions to the third position courtesy first half goals from Sukhwinder Singh and James Moga.

Dempo, on the other hand plummeted to the fifth place after succumbing to another loss at the hands of Mohun Bagan in a rescheduled tie.

Syed Rahim Nabi and Odafa Okolie found the back of the net for the mariners in each half as Peter Carvalho pulled one back, but in vain.

In their Round 22 match, Bagan failed to get the better of Shillong Lajong with the match ending in a 2-2 stalemate.

Coming to the top two, a profligate Churchill Brothers failed to bag three points against Salgaocar while Prayag United capitalised on East Bengal custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s terrible blunder to stage a comeback after being two goals down and hold the Red and Gold to a 2-2 draw.

Gurpreet failed to collect a routine catch after Costa Rican World Cupper Carlos Hernandes unleashed a 40-yard drive. Building on the incentive, Ranty Martins notched up the equaliser minutes later to spoil the Kolkata giants’ party which was prompted by Manadeep Singh from the spot and Chidi Edeh in the first essay.

In another match, United Sikkim drubbed Air India 5-0 to keep their hopes of beating the drop alive. Nuruddin Salau scored a brace as Pablo Rodriguez, John Landa Matkin, and Thupden Bhutia completed the rout.

Further, Pailan Arrows displayed a spirited performance against Khalid Jamil’s Mumbai FC taking the lead through Milan Singh who made no mistake from the spot. Yusif Yakubu though matched Milan in the dying minutes of the first half, converting a penalty which stayed the last goal of the match.

Another 1-1 tie saw ONGC end Sporting Clube de Goa’s winning streak.