The stadium emcee could not be faulted for his efforts. But his exhortation to get the East Bengal chant going got drowned in the exuberance coursing through the half that sat Mohun Bagan Super Giant fans leading to boos eddying around Salt Lake stadium. Outsmarted, outshouted and, of course, outscored that was the East Bengal story in the first half of the Kolkata derby in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Sunday evening.
The 3-1 result took Mohun Bagan to the top with 36 points, double of what East Bengal have, and into the play-offs after 17 games along with Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC who have played a match more.
Saul Crespo’s volley – and the best goal in an evening Jason Cummings (27th), Liston Colaco (37) and Dimitri Petratos (45+3) scored for Mohun Bagan – after chesting and shielding Cleiton Silva’s delivery from Subhasish Bose produced a stirring fightback. Incredible as it would have been, East Bengal could have turned the match on its head had Nandhakumar Sekar not put too much on a pass for Silva. Which meant East Bengal’s Brazilian forward, their totem, couldn’t bring it down and the scoreline didn’t change. It could have in the 63rd but Silva’s sharp header, off a Sekar prompt, brought out a tremendous reflex save from Vishal Kaith.
In a game where Mohun Bagan’s frontline sizzled with slick passes, interchange of positions and the lurking presence of Petratos, it was Kaith who played a decisive role. The penalty he saved off Silva in the 13th minute, also East Bengal’s only shot on target in the first half, could have improved the red-and-gold brigade’s chances of sneaking into the top six. It was poor penalty alright but what better way to make amends for a bad challenge on Silva that led to the spot-kick.
Apoplectic with rage at referee Tejas Nagvenkar for awarding the penalty led to Mohun Bagan coach Antonio Lopez Habas being booked. His contention could have been that Colaco had been fouled by Mahesh Naorem earlier in the move. It has been a point of debate for East Bengal coach Carles Cuadrat; the move that fetched Petratos’ late equaliser in the first derby being a case in point. This time, fortune had favoured East Bengal but not enough for them to sneak ahead.
Cummings’ tap-in helped Mohun Bagan do that. Part of Australia’s 2022 World Cup squad, Cummings has scored eight goals in ISL10, most of them proof of his ability to be at the right time at the right place. Showing the kind of striker’s instinct that pay his bills – Cummings had a standout show in Central Coast Mariners winning the 2022-23 A-League – the man with a retro haircut scored after Prabhsukhan Gill parried a shot from Petratos into his path.
In the stadium, India head coach Igor Stimac would have seen this. As he would Sahal Abdul Samad chasing lost causes for Mohun Bagan and being a threat in front. Stimac would also have watched Lalchungnunga, used as right-back, ball watching when player-of-the-match Petratos fired in a right-footer after his left-footer rebounded from the upright. Colaco would have be hard-pressed to think of a simpler goal he has scored in ISL.
In 10 minutes, the match had slipped away from East Bengal. But Mohun Bagan fans, outnumbering the almost 60,000 in the stands, had sensed it coming at the first water break. When torches in mobiles lit up half the amphitheatre at the water break, the other side was visibly darker. Then, Petratos scored off a penalty. Gill, who has had a good run of form this term, got a hand but the shot had too much power.
That happened when Lalchungnunga was injured and East Bengal tried to see it to half-time without making a change. That meant Sekar, who had started in the middle of the three-man frontline, was the temporary right-back. He felled Colaco with a poor challenge and Petratos ended the first half rolling shoulders and slapping his left thigh to celebrate his eight goal of the season.
Trailing 0-3 at half-time could have meant East Bengal would try to minimise damage. Emerging first out of the tunnel, they did the opposite. Gill denied Cummings early but from then on it was all East Bengal as Mohun Bagan switched off. Deep in stoppage time, East Bengal should have got a penalty when PV Vishnu was tripped by Abhishek Suryavanshi. Instead, Vishnu got booked for simulation and Cuadrat for raging into the night.
Leave feedback about this