Salgaocar Sports Club escaped with a face saving draw as they began their title defence with a 2-2 verdict against BSF in the Durand Cup football tournament in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Earlier, 16-time winners Mohun Bagan thrashed qualifiers Assam Rifles 5-0 to start their campaign on an impressive note.
Salgaocar, who beat East Bengal via tie-breaker in last year's final, were in danger when they went 1-2 down, before a 75th minute goal by Jothi Kumar gave them a crucial point in a Group A match.
BSF, who had earlier lost to Air India 1-2, bowed out of the tournament gathering just a point while Salgaocar will now have to beat the Mumbai team to progress to the last four. For Air India, even a draw will do.
Assam Rifles were no match for Bagan's fire power as the Kolkatans, who missed the last two editions of the tournament, led 4-0 at half-time.
The maroon-and-green brigade almost opened their account in the 10th minute but Sunil Chetri saw his shot crashing against the goal post.
Bagan took the lead in the 17th minute through Chetri who shot home a good pass from Mehtab Hussain. The duo again did the damage three minutes later but this time the roles were reversed.
Bagan went 3-0 up in the 36th minute when their Brazilian defender Chacon Eduwardo rose above his marker and headed in a free-kick by Dharamjit Singh.
Assam Rifles then produced a rare counter attack but Kabal Rabha failed to beat goalkeeper Subrata Pal with his right-footer.
Four minutes from the break, Bagan's Nigerian forward James Agbo Ugwu went past a clutch of defenders through the left before setting up Chetri who completed the formalities with an easy tap in.
Changing ends, Bagan saw the post denying them thrice more before Dharamjit Singh completed the tally in the 82nd minute. The goal came moments after Assam Rifles averted another danger following a Noel Wilson free kick.
The only worry for the Bagan coach would be the yellow card picked up by Eduwardo towards the end with an unnecessary challenge. The Kolkatans will now take on State Bank of Travancore on Friday to decide the winners of Group B.
In the second match, BSF clearly surprised Salgaocar, who never lifted their game expected of a champion side, coming back from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead just after the hour mark.
With Salgaocar forwards and medios running out of ideas, it was BSF who created more ripples in the first half with J Ouseph, who scored their lone goal against Air India, trying a few long rangers.
The Goans took the lead in the 36th minute when medio Samson Singh volleyed home from the edge of the box. But their joy was shortlived as BSF restored parity at the stroke of halftime after a superb effort by Santosh Sethi.
Taking advantage of a mispass, Sethi went up through the right and lobbed the ball into the post evading an advancing Siddi and two defenders. As the ball dipped in, John Dias came up with a valiant clearance. The linesman was not very sure whether the ball had crossed the line but later changed his mind, after BSF players protested.
The second session saw substitute P H Boy Singh putting BSF ahead in the 62nd minute, moments after he came on, going past Dias through the right.
The lead gave more teeth to the cops who conducted a few more raids. Salgaocar were now really under pressure till foreign recruit Marcos Pereira, who otherwise had a bad day in the office, and Jothi Kumar came to the team's rescue in the 75th minute.
Pereira went up through the left and relayed the ball to Jothi on his right. With the defence totally beaten, goalkeeper Kameshwar Singh, playing in his ninth match in less than two weeks time, stood no chance as Jothi calmly tapped the ball into the net.
