Captain Alfaz Ahmed set up late goals for Peter Odaf and Manju to inspire the Black and Whites to overcome a first-half deficit and edge their neighbours 2-1 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Mohammedan, who drew their previous match 1-1 against old-day rivals Dhaka Wanderers, raised their collection to 30 points with their ninth victory at the start of the 12th round while Youngmen's remain stuck third from bottom with seven points.

In a very ordinary first half, Kamal's schoolboy-like goalkeeping cost Mohammedan the lead when Baten's feeble shot went through the legs of the rookie custodian.

It was the first shot on goal in the match that broke the 40-minute deadlock when Youngmen's forward Baten, taking a through from Robin, saw his low drive from the edge of the area slip through Kamal's buttered gloves and cross the line.

Mohammedan spent more nervous moments when their backline was tested constantly early in the second half by the rival youngsters.

Robin had a golden chance to make it 2-0 four minutes after the break when he exchanged passes with Baten to get inside the danger zone but the Youngmen's skipper's volley rattled the crossbar to relieve the full-house Mohammedan stand.

Kamal, who stood under the bar for an unwell first-choice Biplab, then made amends for his gaffe by pulling off a couple of superb saves from close range shots by Baten and Rajan in the next 15 minutes.

The table-toppers got the right wake up call and Alfaz's 66-minute freekick from the right flank was superbly turned into an equaliser by the towering Nigerian centre-back Odaf, who rose above the opposition defenders to nod home his second league goal.

Despite the odd counter-attack by the Fakirerpool boys, Mohammedan dominated the rest of the show and Asad and Khokon failed to hit the mark inside from the box from goalmouth melee.

Alfaz, who exploited wide gaps at the right flank to release a series of centres, helped Manju score in the 80th minute with an exquisite flick on a low cross but the goal was ruled out for offside. However, it took three more minutes for the same pair to provide the match-winner with a replay of the Mohammedan skipper's previous pass.

This time Manju had Mamun marking him but the striker, whose first time shot rebounded off the Youngmen's fullback, shrugged the challenge from the onrushing goalkeeper to place an angular shot into the far corner to burst into wild celebration.

It was Manju's eighth goal that gave him solo lead in the scorers' list ahead of teammate Alfaz, Brothers Union's Russian striker Victor and Muktijoddha's Nigerian forward Paul, all on seven goals.

Yellow cards: Ripon, Masud (Youngmen's)

TEAMS
MOHAMMEDAN: Kamal, Nazrul, Odaf, Hassan, Rony, Arman Aziz (Khokon), Asad (Zahid), Munna, Mintu (Kaiser), Alfaz and Manju.

YOUNGMEN'S: Shiplu, Mamun, Ariful, Mohammed Ali, Saikat (Nayan), Ripon, Chanchal, Masud, Rajan (Dhiman), Baten (Rony) and Robin.

Referee: Ramkrishna Ghosh.