Churchill Brothers moved into the semi-finals of the 108th IFA Shield football tournament, shocking title-holders East Bengal 1-0 in a crucial quarter-final league encounter at the Salt Lake stadium on Wednesday.
In another match, Mohammedan Sporting edged past Vasco Sports Club by a smiliar margin.
Churchill Brothers found the target against the run of play in the 81st minute through Aqueel Ansari to swell their points tally to five.
East Bengal, who had defeated Indian Bank 2-1 in their opening encounter, have three points from two games.
They play their last match against Tollygunge Agragami on January 17. The outcome of the encounter would be crucial to determine the second team to the last four from the group.
With the match heading for a draw, the hardworking medio broke the deadlock by neatly heading home a Farooq Haidar corner from the left, gving no chance to East Bengal goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee.
The Kolkata giants, however, dominated the proceedings and came close to scoring, but for the woodwork that prevented them on two occasions in the opening session.
In the 34th minute, a Soumitra Chakraborty header from a cross by Brazilian Gilmar Da Silva hit the cross-piece much to the dismay of the handfull of fans of the local side.
Gilmar showed his class once again in the dying minutes of the first-half when he outwitted his marker and essayed a measured centre from left for Sasthi Duley, whose header rebounded off the post. Chakraborty, lurking close by, made a second attempt but his header went over the bar.
Earlier, in a Group B match, Mohammedan Sporting kept alive hopes of a semi-final berth by culling full points against Vasco.
Nigerian Abdullatif Seriki struck the winner in the 59th minute by tapping home from close to take Sporting's points tally to three from two outings.
Vasco, who had drawn with Tata Football Academy before beating Kolkata Port Trust, completed their league engagements with four points from three matches
After an insipid display in the first-half, Sporting stepped up the pace in the second session, launching a number of raids to rattle the opponents.
They tasted success when Seriki gave a fine pass to Rahim Nabi, who received the ball well and essayed a centre into the box. Vasco goalkeeper Rogherio Ramos failed to collect cleanly and defender Sanjay Parte also fumbled with the clearance. Seriki. lurking nearby, tapped the ball into the goal.
Sporting, who lost their tournament opener to Tata Football Academy 0-2, could have increased their margin in the 61st minute but a Dipendu Biswas header off an Arjan Ali cross kissed the crosspiece before going over.
Vasco got two clear chances in the first-half, but failed to convert them into goals. In the 40th minute, Brazilian Rui Wanderley set up Shamshi Reza, whose snapshot was punched out for a flag-kick by custodian Imran Khan. Following Reza's corner, the ball travelled to an unmasked Agnelo Colaco, who failed to nod in.
