I-League: Kolkata Derby ends in a goalless draw

Mohun Bagan 0 – East Bengal 0.

Mohun Bagan: 4-3-3: Shilton Paul, Aiborlang Khongjee, Nirmal Chhetri, Echezona Anyichie, Syed Rahim Nabi (Sushant Matthew 81), Manish Bhargav, Denson Devdas, Jewl Raja (Snehashish Chakraborty 52), Manish Maithani, Tolgay Ozbey (Quinton Jacobs 78), Odafa Okolie.

East Bengal: 4-4-2: Abhijit Mondol, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Arnab Mondal, Uga Okpara, Saumik Dey, Penn Orji, Mehtab Hussain, Ishfaq Ahmed (Sanju Pradhan 82), Lalrindika Ralte, Baljit Singh Sahni (Cavin lobo 68), Edeh Chidi.

It was the clash of two biggest rivals of Indian football, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. But ultimately, both the teams shared points as one of the most anticipated derbies in the Indian football ended in a goal-less draw. It was a crucial game for both teams. While East Bengal wanted to get three points to keep the pressure on Churchill, at the same time Mohun Bagan wanted to win as these points will certainly help them in avoiding relegation.

It was a good competitive 90 minutes as both the teams tried their best to get three points from this match. From the very first minute, East Bengal started to attack the Mohun Bagan defense. In the 5^th minute, East Bengal defender Arnab Mondal almost scored an own goal. Penn Orji played a crucial role in the first half for East Bengal. In the 11 minute, he made a good run into the Mohun Bagan box but his low cross was comfortably gathered by the Mariner’s custodian Shilton Paul. The first shot on goal came in the 20^th minute. Manish Maithani’s shot from outside of the box was comfortably collected by East Bengal goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal.

Mohun Bagan’s Aussie striker Tolgay Ozbey failed to score in his first derby in the Mohun Bagan jersey. In the 25^th minute, he made a good, powerful run but that was not enough to test Abhijit. The real chance came for Mohun Bagan in the 29^th minute, when they got a free kick in a dangerous position, just outside the box. Mohun Bagan skipper Odafa went closest with his free-kick, but his shot was denied by the post.

Mohun Bagan goalkeeper, Shilton Paul, made a terrible mistake in the 39^th minute, when he failed to collect a flighted cross, but luckily East Bengal could not take advantage of it. In the 44^th minute, Aibor made a clumsy challenge on Chidi into the box but the contact was not enough to merit a penalty.

In the second half, both the teams played a bit defensively. Mohun Bagan got another chance in the 52^nd minute, with the Odafa-Tolgay combination creating a good scoring opportunity, but East Bengal defender Uga Okpara defended brilliantly to deny them. Though the Mohun Bagan players shouted for a handball, the referee was not interested to give them a penalty. In the 62^nd and 70^th minutes, Chidi tried his luck, but both the shots were not on target.

In the 78^th minute, Cavin Lobo got a half chance to score but could not find the net. Another chance came for East Bengal in the 80^th minute, when Ishfaq made a good cross into the Mohun Bagan box, but Chidi could not keep the ball down.

With this draw, East Bengal remain in the no 1 position in the league table with 40 points from 20 matches, while their arch rivals Mohun Bagan have to work hard as they are now at the bottom of the league table with 6 points from 15 matches.