Air-India's plans for a smooth take off were thwarted by a resilient Mahindra United, who rallied strongly to force a 1-1 draw in an opening round ONGC I-League local derby at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Sunday.
Skipper Bashiru Abbas gave the airmen the lead in the 32nd minute with a powerful header from a Sanju Pradhan corner, the short and stocky Nigerian being surprisingly unmarked in a forest of tall trunks.
The former NFL champs drew level in the 72nd minute after their Ivory Coast midfielder Douhou Pierre made a powerful surge into the box from the middle and squared for the irrepressible Yakubu Yusif to nod home.
It looked like Air-India would again get the better of their more-fancied opponents as they struck up a good rhythm initially and created a few openings in a fairly even first session. But Mahindra gradually established control over the match with their quality midfield quartet finally establishing their ascendancy.
However, the lack of an able partner for the tricky Yakubu saw the wily Ghanaian being hustled off the ball time and again. Neither Manjit Singh, nor his replacement in the 30th minute, Mohammed Rafi, could make their mark upfront. Clearly, Mahindras need a quality foreign striker to make themselves effective but coach Derrick Pereira said he is prepared to wait a while till he finds the right man.
While Mahindra's inexperienced defense held out in the main, stopper-back Harpreet Singh should consider himself lucky that Paresh Shivalkar put his shot wide off the far post after he gifted the ball to the Air-India left-winger just outside the danger area.
Air-India threw their new foreign striker, Njoh Jean, straightaway into the fray and while the rangy Cameroonian did not really set the dilapidated stands at the Cooperage on fire, he did provide a few indications of better things to come.
"If we had taken our chances, especially in the first half, there would have been a different story to tell," rued Air-India coach Bimal Ghosh.
He should however take heart from the fact that debutante left stopper-back Dhanachandra Singh had a good outing and diminutive medio Sanju Pradhan too was a livewire in the middle till he ran out of steam and was substituted in the second half by Vijith Shetty.
Air-India now play Salgaocar in Goa on November 29 in the second round while Mahindra United take on Churchill Brothers at home the same day.