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East Bengal Club suffered a major setback in the 2017/18 I-League title challenge as they lost 0-2 to archrivals Mohun Bagan AC in a Kolkata Derby at the Saltlake Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Mariners had the perfect start as a Nikhil Kadam cross from the right was headed on by Akram Moghrabi with Dipanda Dicka first-time shot going into the East Bengal nets within 55 seconds of the kick-off.
The goal pumped-up Mohun Bagan, who have been going through a rough patch in recent weeks, while East Bengal looked shocked and clueless what to do against their opponents.
Then in the 27th minute East Bengal thought they had equalised following a corner by Katsumi Yusa was put into the net by Willis Plaza, but the ball had gone out before reaching the striker.
In the 35th minute then a corner at the other end. Raynier Fernandes takes it and a world class side-volley by Dipanda Dicka to make it 2-0 for the Mariners.
Mohun Bagan could have sealed the match in the first half itself. In the 47th minute, second minute of injury time, a mistake by Eduardo, Dicka snatches the ball from him, plays to an open Nikhil Kadam, who has only keeper Luis Barreto to beat, but his weak shot is cleared by the keeper for a corner.
At the break, Mohun Bagan surprise their archrivals with a 2-0 lead.
East Bengal came out into the second half with more purpose. In the 50th minute, Katsumi Yusa squares the ball, but Mohammed Rafique with a weak touch, Mohun Bagan clear the danger.
But thereafter East Bengal again faded away and Mohun Bagan had numerous chances on the counter to score even more. In the 73rd minute, Dicka found an open Moghrabi but his shot went over; then in the 80th minute, Kadam put his effort wide; while in the 86th minute, Kadam with another cross, but again Moghrabi put his effort wide; before the final chance fell to my ‘Man of the Match’ Nikhil Kadam as he is send free but puts his shot onto the post in the fourth minute of injury time.
MATCH STATS
East Bengal Club 0-2 (0-2) Mohun Bagan AC
Goals: 0-1 Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka (1′, 35′)
East Bengal Club: Luis Xavier Barreto – Lalramchullova, Arnab Kumar Mondal (50′ Cavin Lobo), Eduardo Ferreira, Salam Ranjan Singh – Prakash Sarkar (42′ Surabuddin Mallick), Mohammed Rafique, Mahmoud Al Amna (4′ Bazie Armand), Katsumi Yusa – Willis Deon Plaza, MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi
Mohun Bagan AC: Shilton Paul – Arijit Bagui, Kinshuk Debnath (81′ Rana Gharami), Eze Kingsley, Ricky Lallawmawma – Sheikh Faiaz, Raynier Fernandes (71′ Shilton Sydney D’Silva), Cameron Watson, Nikhil Kadam – Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka, Akram Moghrabi (90+2′ Azharuddin Mallick)
Referee: R. Srikrishna
Man of the Match: Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka (Mohun Bagan)
