They could not overcome the heavyweights in pre-season, losing in the semifinals of the Durand Cup and settling for a draw in the IFA Shield group stage.However, Juan Pedro Benali’s men delivered when it mattered most as NorthEast United FC snatched a dramatic late 1-0 win against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in their Indian Super League opener in Guwahati on Monday.Playing in front of their fans at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, it was super-sub Jithin MS who struck the winner in the first minute of stoppage time after Bagan had dominated much of the 90 minutes with their attacks, while NEUFC relied on the brilliance of Alaaeddine Ajaraie to breach the visitors’ defence.The first half produced some enthralling end-to-end action, with Mohun Bagan pressing from the word go and the Highlanders responding with attacks of their own after the opening 10 minutes.It was Lallianzuala Chhangte, in his new green-and-maroon colours, who dominated the early exchanges, having been named in the starting XI by coach Panagiotis Dilmperis ahead of regular Bagan winger Manvir Singh. Soon after, however, fellow new signing Lee Erwin began to grow into the game.The Scot also came closest to breaking the deadlock with a volley that dropped into the goal after hitting the bar, only for the offside flag to deny him. His physicality and pace began to pose all sorts of problems for the NEUFC defence. However, the Highlanders’ new signing Nikhil Barla remained up to the task in his defensive role.The combination of Chhangte and Erwin made a Bagan breakthrough look imminent, only for the NEUFC defence, led by skipper Asheer Akhtar, to soak up the pressure every time.At the other end, Highlanders talisman Ajaraie looked threatening with his individual brilliance, while Ethyan Gonzalez’s crosses repeatedly found runners inside the box, but each move was thwarted by the blocking and marking of Alberto Rodriguez and Lalengmawia Ralte.It was Rodriguez who came close for the visitors in the 43rd minute when his long-range effort whistled past the top-left corner of the NEUFC goal.While both coaches made a couple of changes after the break, it was the combination of Sahal Abdul Samad and Erwin that created two chances in quick succession in the 54th minute. Erwin first produced a feeble effort from close range after a Sahal pass and then failed to keep down a tricky volley, sending it over the bar.Soon after, Dilmperis replaced Erwin with Miguel Ferreira and brought on regular attackers Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh, along with Kashmiri forward Suhail Ahmed Bhat, in search of the elusive goal.Ajaraie had a couple of good chances in the 72nd and 75th minutes respectively but had Mehtab Singh stand strong with a tackle in the first while his dipping long volley that beat goalkeeper was disallowed by the referee’s whistle.On the other end, an incessant series of attacks from Bagan was met with some frantic but successful defending from the home side as Benali’s men mostly resorted to counter-attacks to find a goal against the run of play.Bhat could have got Bagan a goal towards the end when he failed to connect to a perfect cross from Colaco from the right at goal-mouth in the 87th minute and hit the woodwork a couple of minutes later.However, roared on by their fans, NEUFC began creating chances of their own towards the end of regulation time and, in the 95th minute, the ball fell to Jithin after a Gonzalez piledriver struck the woodwork. The dependable midfielder made no mistake, calmly turning the rebound into the winner.