Friday , March 29 2024

I-League: East Bengal & Mohun Bagan play out goalless draw in Kolkata Derby!

Much was expected from the top of the table I-League clash between East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC but the Kolkata derby away from home at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri ended in a goalless stalemate.

With the result, East Bengal consolidated their position at the top of the table moving to 20 points from eight matches while Mohun Bagan stay in second spot moving to 17 points from seven matches just ahead of surprise side Aizawl FC on 16 points from eight matches.

The first chance of the match came in the 14th minute but East Bengal Goalkeeper Rehenesh T.P. adjudged the ‘Hero of the match’ dived to his left to thwart off Pritam Kotal’s deft push following a Sony Norde cross.

East Bengal had their first shy at the rival goal in the 23rd minute but Willis Deon Plaza following up a Robin Singh through pass couldn’t put it past Mohun Bagan Goalkeeper Debjit Majumder who dived to his right.

Mohun Bagan had their best chance in the 35th minute following a Sony corner. With the ball viciously dipping in at the last moment, Rehenesh managed to keep it off but with him out of position, Mohun Bagan’s centre back Eduardo Ferreira failed to tap it in.

Plaza was in the thick of things in the 41st minute when he spun the web past three but held on to the ball for a bit too long for it to be cleared by Eduardo.

In the 43rd minute, Mohun Bagan midfielder Souvik Chakraborty got past a couple of East Bengal players at the top of the box but his effort was too weak to get past Rehenesh. It remained goalless at the break.

Changing over and with the lights on, Nikhil Pujari’s persistence helped East Bengal earn the first corner in the 52nd minute but it didn’t yield any result.

East Bengal could have taken the lead in the 57th minute but Debjit’s reflexes under the Mohun Bagan bar denied them. Plaza did all the right things – first by following up Robin Singh’s back header even as he shielded Eduardo over his shoulder, but his placement was fisted off by an acrobatic Debjit.

East Bengal made their first substitution in the 68th minute – Haokip coming in for Robin Singh.

In the 71st a lucky deflection landed Yusa Katsumi in a favourable position but Ivan Bukenya recovered fast to deny it for a corner, which eventually went abegging. Two minutes later, Darryl Duffy went on a solo run and earned another corner for Mohun Bagan, but this one too didn’t create any danger.

Immediately after, Mohun Bagan coach Sanjoy Sen brought in his first change – Balwant Singh replacing Jeje Lalpekhlua and then the second substitution came in the 86th minute – this time Prabir Das replacing Sony Norde.

In the very next minute, Plaza after being found in the clear by a long ball from Lalrindika Ralte stayed guilty of holding on for too long enabling the Mohun Bagan defenders to close him down.

In the injury time, off a counter attack, Bukenya managed to get a foot to Balwant’s intended pass to Duffy otherwise, it would have provided the latter with the easiest of chances to tap in. But it all stayed goalless in the end.

MATCH STATS

East Bengal Club 0-0 Mohun Bagan AC – Goals: none.

East Bengal Club: Rehenesh T.P. – Rahul Bheke, Gurwinder Singh, Ivan Bukenya, Narayan Das – Nikhil Poojary, Mehtab Hossein, Lalrindika Ralte – Wedson Anselme, Robin Singh (68′ Semboi Haokip), Willis Deon Plaza

Mohun Bagan AC: Debjit Majumder – Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Eduardo Soares Ferreira, Subhasis Bose – Katsumi Yusa, Pranoy Halder, Souvik Chakraborty, Sony Norde (87′ Prabir Das) – Jeje Lalpekhlua (76′ Balwant Singh), Darrel Duffy

Referee: C.R. Srikrishna

Hero of the Match: Rehenesh T.P. (East Bengal)

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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