Chirag United rallied splendidly from a goal in arrears to beat fancied Mahindra United 3-1 and hand them their second successive defeat in as many matches in the I-League football tournament at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Saturday.

For Chirag, the newly-promoted side from Kolkata, it was their first victory after losing to East Bengal in their opening match.

Mahindra went ahead in the ninth minute when Sushil Kumar [Images] Singh headed the ball home, but they were hard-pressed for the remainder of the first half.

After Muritala Ali restored parity for Chirag immediately on resumption in the second session, the Mumbai side was found wanting in midfield. The Chirag medios repeatedly split the Mahindra defence and went ahead in the 52nd minute through Gauranga Datta and held then ascendancy.

First-half substitute Hardeep Singh, formerly of JCT, sealed the issue when he found the net following a pass from Ali three minutes from the final whistle.