East Bengal 1-1 Mohun Bagan: Match review

In an exciting derby match at Kolkata, Mohun Bagan held Kingfisher East Bengal to an 1-1 draw at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. It was an all important match in the I-league as the winner would have gotten an upper hand in the race for the I-league title. However, the result would suit Dempo SC and Churchill Brothers, as this year’s title race is bound to go till the very last game of the season.

The match started with an one-minute silence for the victims at the Egypt football stadium’s tragedy, which took place earlier this week. Mohun Bagan started with Sunil Chettri and Odafa Okolie, with a 4-4-2 formation, thus abandoning their winning formula of 4-5-1 from the previous derbies. East Bengal gave Robin Singh a start, with a compact midfield comprising of Penn and Mehtab. With two out and out strikers for Mohun Bagan, the East Bengal midfield were dominant from the start. Mohun Bagan failed to stamp their authority in the midfield as they were outrun and out played by the East Bengal midfielders.

Hudson Lima was always closely marked by two players, as Trevor Morgan realized that he provided the creative outlet in a lack-luster mid field of Mohun Bagan. Lima was on the receiving end of hard tackles, throughout the match. Robin Singh was constantly seen to run beyond Sur Kumar down the left channel. However in spite of dominating possession for most of the first half, East Bengal were unable to create a good chance from the open play. The best chance fell to Tolgay, but the Australian striker lashed his volley wide.

The goal however came in the 34th minute when Robin Singh ran through past the entire Mohun Bagan defense, for a lobbed ball. The back four could only hope that the linesman would put up his flag for offside, however it was the other way round and Robin Singh made full use of the defensive lapse. There was a hint of offside – however none of the video replays proved to conclusive enough. East Bengal went into the half time, leading 1-0.

The second began with a bang. Hardly the supporters had returned from their half-time refreshments, when Odafa proved once again, why he is the best striker of the I-league. The lanky Nigerian dribbled past four defenders before unleashing a powerful shot which took a deflection on it’s way into the goal. It was 1-1, and parity has been restored. Barreto, probably playing his last Kolkata derby came on for Zeleny, but was unfortunate enough to be injured after going in on a tackle – he was in turn replaced with Asim Biswas. Sunil Chettri then, missed a chance after some good work by Lima Hudson on the left hand side. The next talking point of the game was when Tolgay rounded off the keeper to put the ball in the back of the net, however the goal was disallowed because of offside. It was a controversial decision, as the video replays showed that he could have been on.

Mohun Bagan played the last fifteen minutes with ten men, as Lima was stretchered off, after being fouled by Penn. It was a bad tackle from the East Bengal player, which got him booked. Early reports say that the Brazilian could be out for atleast two weeks, although there was no fracture at the ankle. However, the Mariners were able to hold the red and gold brigade, till the final whistle , and looked the happier of the two to get the one point. Given the circumstances it was a good point for the Mariners. This was the third derby of this season, and the Mariners came away unbeaten from these three matches – having won two and drawn one.

With this draw, East Bengal are at 2nd place with 35 points from 19 games and Mohun Bagan are at 3rd place with 34 points from 19 games. Dempo SC are at 40 points, having played one game less.