Srinagar: North East FC crusied its way into the quaterfinal of the Durand Cup as they outplayed J&K based side Downtown Heroes FC 3-1 in the last group match at Guwahati on Sunday.
Parvaj Bhuiya struck in the eighth minute to give Downtown early lead which they held on at the half-time break.
However, NorthEast turned things around in the second half, with Ibson Melo equalising in the 48th, followed by Romain Philippoteaux’s 52nd goal to put their noses ahead. Eventually, NorthEast sealed the tie with Parthib Gogoi’s 78th-minute winner.
Northeast are with second place in the group with seven points, behind table-topper FC Goa on goal difference. FC Goa are also through to the quarterfinals.
With this defeat Downtown finished last in the group after failing win a single match. They suffered 2-1 defeat against Shillong FC in first match while as lost to FC Goa by 3-0 in second match.
The misfiring J&K based side were able to score just one goal in three matches with Shillong Goal being own goal.