Calcutta: Splendid performance by Subrata Pal under the bar helped Mohun Bagan hold Mahindra United in a barren draw in their opening match of the 10th National Football League (NFL) for the ONGC Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

The match witnessed the return of Brazilian Jose Ramirez Barreto to the city where he has lot of moments to cherish. But on this day, he was kept under the strict vigil by Mohun Bagan defender Sanjeev Maria.

The crafty Brazilian, who played from the deep, though manage to create some chances for his teammate Yusif Yakubu, which wasn’t enough for the Mahindra United to start on a winning note.

The first 20 minutes saw some ups and downs when Barreto and Yakubu for the visitors and Tomba Singh and captain Mehtab Hussain for the home side made forays in regular intervals.

The jeepmen started the proceedings well, when a diving Pal saved a Yakubu header off a Barreto pass in the 10 th minute.

Bagan had their first positive move in the 23 rd minute when Tomba Singh’s right-footer from just outside the box was thwarted by defender Mahesh Gawli.

Former India captain Sahnmugam Venkatesh who mainly operated from the left took charge of the midfield quite soon and made the green-and-maroon camp’s task tougher than expected.

In the 30 th minute, Mehtab dribbled past Adjei David and moved into the box but messed up the opportunity as his left-footer was nowhere near the target.

Eight minutes later, Mohun Bagan defenders were caught napping when Barreto moved into the left side of the box and his well-directed shot off a James Singh pass was thwarted by Pal again.

After the lemon break, Bagan’s new Ghanaian recruit Ibrahim replaced Sushil Singh, but the Ghanaian’s flashes of brilliance couldn’t find the most-important goal for green-and-maroon brigade.

Four minutes into the second session, Ibrahim showed his class with his long-ranger which was saved by Mahindra goalie Sandip Nandi. Two minutes later, it was Coffi Agbessi but he failed in his mission.

Mohun Bagan had some anxious moments, one of which was in the 58 th minute, when Yakubu missed the target by a whisker after getting a ball from Barreto.

Another Steven Dias cross created panic among the Mohun Bagan defenders which was ultimately put away by Pal, who fumbled to grip in the first chance. Pal was aptly adjudged as the Man-of-the-Match for his brilliance to keep the slate clean for the former champions.

TEAMS

MOHUN BAGAN: Subrata Pal, Eduardo Coelho, Sanjeev Maria, Suleiman Firoz, Noel Wilson (Awudu Ibrahim 46), Mehrajuddin Wadao (Basudeb Mondal 87), Sushil Singh, Tomba Singh, Subhasish Roy Choudhuri, Mehtab Hussain, Cofi Agbessi (Dipendu Biswas 87).

MAHINDRA UNITED: Sandip Nandi, Surkumar Singh, Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli, N.S. Manju, Steven Dias, James Singh (Subhas Chakraborty 88), Shanmugam Venkatesh, Adjei David (K. Ajayan 58), Yusif Yakubu, Jose Ramirez Barreto.

REFEREE: Abdul Saleem (Delhi).