Defending champions Mahindra United beat Mohammedan Sporting 2-1 to enter the semi-finals of the 28th Peerless Federation Cup in Kolkata on Friday.

The teams were locked goalless till the 89th minute before three goals had the sizeable crowd at the Salt Lake stadium on the edge of their seats.

Nippy striker Manjit Singh put Mahindra ahead, but the lead was cancelled by Sporting's Habibur Rahman Mondal.

However, Ghanaian Yousif Yakubu clinched the issue for the visitors by nodding home seconds before the end of injury time.

Mahindra, who had seized the initiative in the second session after a lacklustre show till half-time, drew first blood in the 90th minute as Manjit made amends for an unimpressive showing earlier.

Receiving the ball at the top of the box, he headed towards James Singh and positioned himself in an advantageous position to latch on to the return pass before firing a rasping right-footer that rocketed into the near corner of the net.

As the match rolled into injury time, Sporting's Bijen Singh addressed a centre from the left and Jatin Singh Bisht headed the ball down for Mondal to score with a snap side volley and draw the home team level.

As the match seemed headed to extra-time, Susanth Matthew did the spadework from the right and dodged past two defenders to feed Yakubu, who headed the ball home in a flash.