Mohammedan Sporting’s Sovan Chakraborty vies for the ball with Ranty Martins of Dempo at Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Mohammedan Sporting were back on the losing track on Thursday. Shabbir Ali’s boys fought harder than expected against Dempo but lost 0-2 here at the Salt Lake Stadium, making their win against Vasco last Friday just one bright spark in an otherwise gloomy I-League campaign.

The city team had their moments but the difference in class was palpable. Mohammedan Sporting goalkeeper Tharangachan Tungshang was almost as good as he was in their last match. His acrobatic save stopped Dempo from scoring in the second minute itself but he could do little in the eighth minute when he fisted away Sameer Naik’s cross from the right and an unmarked Anthony Pereira shot the ball in to make it 1-0.

Ranty Martins, after twice coming close to scoring, found luck in the 39th minute. It was one of those moments when the Mohammedan Sporting defence forgot to react. Roberto Mendes D’Silva’s shot off Joaquim Abranches’ cross was fisted away by Tharangachan.

The ball came to Ranty. The defenders, to everyone’s astonishment, did not go for the final tackle even though it was inside the box. Taking advantage of an unmoved defence, Ranty made it 2-0.

Teams

Dempo: V.P. Satish Kumar, John Dias (Mahesh Gawli 46), Climax Lawrence, Ranty Martins (Cliffton Gonsalves 81), Roberto Mendes D’Silva, Anthony Pereira, Sameer Naik, Joaquim Abranches, Valeriano Rebello, Nicolau Borges (Peter Carvalho 68), Dominic Noronha.

Mohammedan Sporting Club: Tharangachan Tungshang (Naseem Akhtar 65), Madhab Das, Mir Farooq Hyder, Sheikh Azim, Anit Ghosh, Sovan Chakraborty, Vimal Pariyar, Gurpreet Singh, Adewusi Adebayo, Goutam Thakur (Lalchhuan Awma 58), A. Jothi Kumar (Satyajit Bose 86).

Referee: .P. Thakur.

MoM: Climax Lawrence.