Norde's brace maintains Mohun Bagan's surge in I-League

Two second half goals in a space of seven minutes from Mohun Bagan's star Haitian midfielder Sony Norde sealed the deal for the league leaders as they beat Bharat FC 2-0 in an I-League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

The win consolidated Mohun Bagan's position at the top of the table as they now have 28 points from 12 matches. Bharat FC dropped to the 10th spot with 11 points from 12 matches.

After a goalless first half, it was Norde who broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute as he latched onto a cross from midfielder Shehnaz Singh before dribbling past defender Mehrajuddin Wadoo and then blasting it past the custodian for his first goal.

He completed his second 69 minutes into the contest as Mohun Bagan capitalised after a short free-kick, their Japanese medio Katsumi Yusa ran down the flank after the ball was passed to him and then found striker Balwant Singh.

Balwant sent in a floater inside the box, which the Bharat FC goalie Arindam Bhattacharya could only parry till Norde buried it into the open net.

Norde's brace took the sting out of the game, as Bharat looked listless in attack thereafter making Mohun Bagan the overwhelmingly dominant side. Mohun Bagan could have added to their tally but their missed chances kept the scoreline to 2-0.