I-League 2017/18: Mohun Bagan vs Minerva Punjab, 5 Talking Points

Minerva Punjab earned their first ever win over Mohun Bagan, as the trumped the Kolkata giants 2-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday. It was a momentous I-League victory for Minerva as two first half goals by Chencho Gyeltshen saw them take all the three points against the Mariners who are still struggling to produce their best.

Despite playing at home, Bagan produced a subdued performance and Minerva were never really under threat barring the last few minutes of the game. Here are the talking points from the match:

Chencho Gyeltshen on target again

If you've been following Minerva this season, you're probably no stranger to Chencho Gyeltshen, but for the uninitiated, he is a young Bhutanese import who's been lighting up the league with his impressive displays.

On another big stage, Chencho's twin strikes settled this game in favour of Minerva. Both of his goals were expertly scored. For his first, he capitalised on a bad clearance from the Bagan defence, picked up the ball just outside the box and unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the area. The Bagan keeper could have perhaps done better as he did get a hand to it, but it went in nevertheless.

For his second, he ran onto a through ball, breaking free of two defenders on the right and eventually finished with a shot across the keeper into the right corner of the goal. The 21-year-old, who's earned the nickname 'CG7' for his Cristiano Ronaldo like scoring attributes and celebrations, continued the fine form he's shown thus far. It's no surprise that Minerva are now planning to hire two more Bhutanese youngsters after the impression that Chencho has made.

Mohun Bagan's penalty woes

Minerva Punjab goalkeeper Rakshit Dagar saves the spot kick

Trailing 0-2 at home and needing something to get back in the contest, Mohun Bagan were presented exactly that opportunity when they were awarded a penalty.

Minerva keeper Rakshit Dagar came off his line to collect the ball played in the box, but his rush forward saw him impede Dipanda Dicka who was trying to get to the ball. The Bagan forward went tumbling over and the referee pointed to the spot.

Ansumanah Kromah took up the responsibility of reducing the deficit, but his penalty was weak, casual and lacked any sort of conviction. Dagar saved it with ease and it was a huge let off for Minerva and a huge opportunity missed for Bagan to get back in the game.

Such missed opportunities have become a running theme for the Green and Maroons this season.

Both sides lucky not to lose a man each

Bagan skipper Kingshuk Debnath (2nd from L) was involved in a brawl with Minerva's William Asiedu

In stoppage time of the first half, Bagan captain Kinshuk Debnath and Minerva's William Asiedu got involved in a brawl.

It all began when Debnath won a foul against Asiedu and ended up lying over the ball for an extended period. Asiedu kicked at the ball in an attempt to snatch it away from Debnath's grasp and get the game going. He kicked the ball twice to which Debnath took offence and retaliated with a kick-out at the Minerva man. Asiedu responded with one of his own and soon Debnath was up on his feet attempting to land a punch on Asiedu. They soon started bumping chests with each other, but were thankfully separated before things could escalate.

The players were only shown yellow, but it could and should have been worse. The whole incident may not have been spotted by the referee which saved the day for both teams. It was a flash-point that summed up Bagan's frustrations with the state of the game.

Another frustrating loss for Mohun Bagan

Mohun Bagan players Dipanda Dicka and Cameron Watson wear a dejected look

Shankarlal Chakraborty got off to a winning start after taking over from Sanjoy Sen in Bagan's previous game against Aizawl FC. But on Wednesday, there was to be no joy for Chakraborty and the Mariners.

Instead, it was a repeat of what happened the last time they played under Sen. They had lost 1-2 at the Kolkata Maidan to Chennai City FC, a result that saw the eventual resignation of Sen and now they've gone down at home to Minerva as well. It is scarcely believable that Bagan would lose both of their matches against teams that got into the I-League just last season.

Before the match, Chakraborty said they had special plans for Chencho, but they definitely didn't walk the talk.

It was another underwhelming performance from Bagan as they just looked short on confidence. Event though they had the lion's share of possession in the opening 20 minutes, the Mariners weren't able to make anything of it. And when they went a goal down, you could see a sense of panic and agony setting in. They never recovered from that and were soon two down.

Yes, they are missing players, but those available are not performing to the best of their abilities either. Kingsley Eze's stoppage-time belter of a strike was nothing more than a consolation.

Minerva clinch top stop

Minerva Punjab FC have climbed to the top of the I-League table

In a battle between form and reputation, it was form that triumphed as Minerva showed why this season they have been a notch higher than their more illustrious opponents. They looked a more cohesive unit and even showed better interplay within each other.

Bagan looked short on ideas while Minerva seemed to be going about their business with specific plans. Their young side has just shown that as a unit, they can be better than some of the more famous teams in the competition. Their defence also held it's own very well. As they go on to play three of the top-four teams in their next few games, this result will certainly prove to be vital.

Minerva also go top of the table with a game in hand, pushing East Bengal down to the second spot. Thus Khogen Singh's quest for the title remains on target.