It was the magical Kolkata derby that saw East Bengal lock horns with their traditional rivals Mohun Bagan at the Kanchenjunga stadium in Siliguri. The game ended goalless but there were a lot to take back for both the Calcutta giants as they went home with a point.
East Bengal fielded a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond setup in the midfield. It was Mehtab Hossain in the defensive screen and Wedson Anselme slotted in at the hole. Lalrindika Ralte and Nikhil Pujari ruled the wings while the burly Robin Singh and Wedson Plaza comprised the strikeforce.
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For Mohun Bagan, it was a conventional 4-4-2 with Pronay Halder and Souvik Chakrabarty manning the central midfield and Yusa Katsumi and Sony Norde out wide. Jeje Lalpekhlua partnered Daryl Duffy up front while Eduardo Ferreira returned in central defence.
The first 45 minutes belonged to Mohun Bagan
The diamond formation for the Red and Golds meant one man too less in both offence and defence. Consequently, Mehtab Hossain seemed overworked as Mohun Bagan kept sauntering past the midfielder in quick succession.
The veteran, playing his 54th derby could only manage to hoist the loose balls up ahead but there were not many East Bengal players who could latch on to them. The long ball strategy to exploit the tall East Bengal attack did not materialise as they were conveniently handled by the Mohun Bagan defence.
Mohun Bagan, meanwhile, with the conventional 4-4-2 had the extra solidarity in midfield. Pronay Halder and Souvik Chakrabarti managed to deal with the occasional attack from East Bengal with relative ease. With the midfield battle taken care of, the Mariners spread the game to the wings where newbies Narayan Das and Rahul Bheke were deployed.
Nervy East Bengal were riled up on numerous occasions
Narayan Das gave away easy fouls with his constant pushes on Katsumi and allowed the Japanese winger acres of space to launch the attack. If only Das had managed to focus, he could have provided a compact cover in the left wing.
Goalkeeper TP Rehenesh was called into action a number of times as he made a few important saves to keep the clean sheet. The Haitian Norde tried to slice an opening but his impressive footwork hit a wall with clinical cover from Rahul Bheke. Yusa Katsumi had to toil hard but strong challenges from Ivan Bukenya and Gurwinder Singh provided the resilience at the back for the Red and Golds.
Pronay and Souvik, on the other hand, were the silent rearguards in the Mohun Bagan central midfield and their relentless work rate kept the Green and Maroons running. Be it their snatching ability or threading a pass, the Bengali duo took it up a notch to conjure up an impressive display for Sanjoy Sen’s team.
The second half was slower than the first, ending the game on an apt note
The first half spoke a familiar tale as East Bengal did their best in hustling the persistent Mohun Bagan attack. Their wingers could not combine well with the central midfield and a palpable gap was getting created in the attacking hole. Robin Singh, meanwhile, could not create any difference as he was stifled by the Brazilian marksman Eduardo.
It was Robin’s combination play with Plaza which had shown a lot of promise in earlier games. But, today, neither Wedson nor Robin could provide any chance for the Trinidad & Tobago striker. Tight marking from Anas Edathodika and Eduardo ensured Mohun Bagan ‘s defence was not hounded by the sturdy attacking pair of the home side.
With the second half kicking off, East Bengal took the initiative and took the game to the Mariners. They played a number of passes but could not break the astute Mohun Bagan defence. The long balls were there and the aim was to spot the sudden surges by the 29-year old Plaza. Their efforts almost yielded dividends when the lanky striker lashed in a volley but Debjit Majumder denied him with an acrobatic save.
The frequent corners in favour of East Bengal reflected a shift in the attacking prerogative as Mohun Bagan came under the cosh.
But, in the end, the goalless draw stood testament to the overall sluggish nature of the game. East Bengal made only one substitute as T.Haokip replaced Robin Singh, but the youngster could not provide any incisive attack for East Bengal.
Mohun Bagan were the better side as they kept the ball on the ground and tried to stitch a few quick passes to slice open the opposition defence. It was an effective ploy until Bukenya stepped up his game and did not leave any chink in the defensive armour.
Both the sides should go back happy, as the draw keeps them in the fray for the title. With the business end yet to be reached, the teams from Calcutta remain the only unbeaten teams in the 10th edition of the I-League.
