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Mohun Bagan registered their first win of this season’s Hero I-League after their comfortable 2-0 victory against Indian Arrows at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Saturday.
The Kolkata club now leapfrogged others to claim the third spot in the league table, behind Chennai City and arch-rivals East Bengal, who have played one match less.
The match was a kind of confidence booster for Mohun Bagan after their two back to back draws against Gokulam Kerala FC and Aizawl FC. They claimed all the three points though but could’ve performed much better, considering the weak opposition they had.
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Indian Arrows, coming to the game after a win against Shillong Lajong, remained in the eighth position with three points from as many games.
They should now go back to the drawing board after another lacklustre display when they failed to tick all the boxes.
Around half an hour after the start of the match, Indian Arrows were defending astutely, much to the frustrations for the green and maroon club.
Finally, Dipanda Dicka broke the deadlock with a superb finish from his head from Henry Kisekka’s pass.
The Cameroonian doubled the lead from the spot after Boris Thangjam handled the ball inside the box. Arrows came to close to scoring quite a few times but failed to find the back of the net.
Let us look at the five points from the match:
#5 Pintu and Arijit shine
For most of the game, there was one thing constant – Pintu Mahata providing crosses from the right flank. The boy from Jangalmahal in West Bengal is growing his stature with every match. He has become an influential player in the team already.
Mohun Bagan coach Sankarlal Chakroborty included Sourav Das in his playing XI. As a result, Oman Elhusseiny and Mahata were deployed as wingers.
Mahata was his lethal best from the right side. With his raw pace and ability to dribble past defenders, he had no problem in putting pressure in Arrows defence.
Bagui was also in form on Saturday. He overlapped constantly to support his teammates. He is regular set-piece taker of the team and created few chances from there also. He moved back beautifully during Arrows’ attack and ensured there was no danger in his area.
#4 Lack of useful strikers is a problem for Arrows
After conceding the first goal, Indian Arrows players started moving forward. They created enough chances against a formidable side like Mohun Bagan. But they didn’t have a prolific striker who can score goals. So, all their chances go wasted at the end.
Arrows coach Floyd Pinto deployed a 4-4-2 formation with Aniket Jadhav and Rahul Kannoly Praveen playing as forwards.
Aniket combined well with Rahul and provided his partner few balls. But Rahul was outstanding with his efforts on the pitch.
Rahul tried to avoid his marker, a big man Eze Kingsley quite a few times and tried to test the goalkeeper from distance. But a goal eluded him. Arrows should’ve scored two times in the match.
During the 73rd minute, an awful clearance from goalkeeper Shilton Paul fell to Amarjit Singh Kiyam.
But the Arrows captain, despite having all the time on earth, shoots ostensibly wide. Shilton though helped to keep a clean sheet at the dying moments, when Lalengmawia’s bullet header was saved by him.
Pinto should introduce either Abhijit Sarkar or Rahim Ali from the start along with to Rahul to get goals.
#3 Mohun Bagan should’ve pressed for more goals
When a coach has players like Dipanda Dicka and Henry Kisekka by his side along with Sony Norde, he should easily opt for an attacking strategy. But sadly, Mohun Bagan players failed to impress despite claiming all the three points from the match.
There are enough weapons in Mohun Bagan’s armoury. They could easily kill their opponent on any given day. One should expect an attacking mindset from their players.
That hasn’t happened against Arrows. At one point, their strikers looked a bit tired. They had chances to make their goal difference look better, but couldn’t capitalise.
Henry Kisekka was again an under-performer on the night and Norde failed to replicate the same aggressive efforts that he produced against Aizawl FC.
Dicka was by far a better player that he was in the previous two matches. Not only Dicka and Kisekka, but Mahata and Elhusseiny should also come out and score goals.
#2 Lost the match, but Pinto’s strategy worked
In their opening match against Chennai City FC, Indian Arrows started attacking right from the outset and ended up conceding four goals. So, their coach Floyd Pinto opted for a different strategy. Get the defence tighter and attack on the counter.
They used the strategy against Shillong Lajong. The Lajong players dominated possession but failed to bite Arrows defence.
Boosted by their performance, Arrows applied the same strategy against Mohun Bagan. Defend in the first half to frustrate opponent players and attack in the second.
But to resist Mohun Bagan attackers from scoring goals for an entire half was a tough task for the young boys. They left Dicka unmarked on quite a few occasions and the Cameroonian used one of them to score his maiden goal in this campaign.
Immediately after conceding the goal, Arrows changed their defensive approach and started attacking.
During the entire second half, they played with this strategy and could’ve scored on two occasions. They also defended superbly, giving no space to Dicka, Kisekka and Norde.
#1 Dicka gets back his form, Kisekka disappoints
Mohun Bagan supporters can now breathe easy. Their star striker Dipanda Dicka has finally got back his form. After disappointing in the first two matches, Dicka finally found the magic touch. His brace helped Bagan to clinch their first win of the campaign.
Dicka scored the first goal from a header and converted the second from the spot. He could’ve scored a hat-trick had he not missed a few easy chances.
But that was that. These two goals would be a major confidence booster for the Cameroonian.
He scored the highest number of goals in the last two editions and will be running for a third if he keeps his form like this.
However, Dicka’s partner Kisekka disappointed once again. Though he provided an assist during the first goal, his own performance was not up to the mark.
He could’ve easily scored a hat-trick with the number of chances that he got but failed to capitalise any of them.
