Hello and welcome to Sporstar's LIVE coverage of the marquee I-League clash between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
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East Bengal picks up all three points to become level with Real Kashmir on 25 points. EB, however, will remain in the fourth spot owing to its inferior goal difference. Mohun Bagan remains in the sixth spot.
MATCH REPORT: Justin heroics guide East Bengal to 2-0 hammering of Mohun Bagan
VICTORY! East Bengal rides on a super show from Jobby Justin to thump Mohun Bagan 2-0. This is the first time EB has won both Derby's in 15 years. No surprises here, Jobby Justin is the hero of the match.
90+3' Norde works his way into the box and lines up to take a shot but completely miscues it and is left red-faced.
90' We'll have three minutes of added time. A late goal in the offing?
90' Late change for East Bengal: Goal-scorer Jaime is replaced by Samad Mulick.
89' Sarkar's looping freekick has no takers and the East Bengal defence clears it with ease.
86' East Bengal has a two-goal lead but its heartening to see that the side is still pressing ahead and looking for a third goal. Brandon's low free-kick takes a deflection and nearly sneaks in.
83' OUCH! Norde catches Chullova's ankle and goes into the ref's book. Frustration creeping into the Bagan players now.
82' Second change for Mohun Bagan: Caldeira is replaced by Sarkar.
81' That's a fine attempt from Brandon. He receives the ball on the edge of the box and fires a powerful first-time volley, but Shilton does well to save it.
80' We're into the final 10 minutes and East Bengal has a comfortable two-goal cushion. Surely this has to be enough to seal the win?
78' Norde plays a long ball into the box and Dicka has a decent effort on goal but Dagar has it covered.
77' You'll got it right again!
75' HE DOES IT! HE DOES IT AGAINNNNNNN! JOBBY JUSTIN RISES ABOVE THE DEFENCE AND HEADS IN THE CORNER TO MAKE IT 2-0 TO EAST BENGAL. WHAT A SUBLIME FINISH!
73' Yellow! Darren Caldeira goes into the book for a rather unnecessary tackle on Jaime.
70' We're down to the last 20 minutes, ladies and gents. Can East Bengal hold on to register back-to-back Kolkata Derby wins or will Mohun Bagan bounce back?
69' Stunning counter from East Bengal. Justin is played on goal with a lovely though ball and he dodges his way past two defenders to shoot on goal but Kingsley gets his body in the way to deny him.
68' Swing and a miss! Gurjinder lines up to unleash a ferocious volley but the ball is stolen away from him by the defence in the knick of time.
66' Dicka is brought down in the box and he cries for a penalty, but much to the agony of the Mohun Bagan supporters, the referee awards no spot-kick.
64' First change for East Bengal: Laldanmawia is replaced by Brandon. Fun fact: Brandon had scored two goals for the Red and Gold brigade in the previous Kolkata Derby.
62' Dicka has chance, or rather two, in quick succession but the defence is first to react.
58' Bagan continues to push ahead for the elusive equaliser but no luck thus far.
Jobby Justin scored a phenomenal bicycle kick last time out. Can he do it again?
52' Scratch that, the referee's flag is raised and Dicka has been ruled offside. Simply unfortunate for Mohun Bagan. Quite a strange call though, replays show that Dicka wasn't really offside. Have Bagan been robbed of an equaliser here?
52'
GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! IT'S THE EQUALISER! DICKA IT IS!
51' First change of the game for Mohun Bagan: Pintu Mahata is replaced by Faiaz.
49' Another freekick and Norde slams it into the box but much like last time, Dicka tries his best to convert but simply struggles to. A bit of a melee ensues but no cards are awarded.
48' Norde wins a freekick 40-odd yards out and floats the ball into the box but Henry Kisekka can't get his header on target.
46' We're back!
That's the end of the opening 45 and all that separates the two sides is Jaime Colado's 35th minute strike. East Bengal enjoyed 53 percent possession and had two shots on goal compared to Bagan's one.
45' Mohun Bagan's has wasted most of its set-pieces in this opening half. The corners have hardly been used to apply pressure on the opposition and Norde's freekicks have also been a tad poor.
43' This battle between Chullova and Norde is an absolute delight to watch. Chullova has done extremely well to keep Norde in check and let's Norde know that he's around with a little foul every now and then.
40' Forty-five percent of you said that East Bengal would draw first blood you'll were absolutely right!
37' You can tell that Kingsley Eze is clearly being very cautious when it comes to tackles after his red card in the previous Kolkata Derby. That sending off seems to still be looming in his head as Justin got past him pretty easily to set up Jaime for the goal.
35' GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Jaime Santos is the scorer. Justin is played down the right and he cleverly gets past Eze and squares it for Jaime who finds the back of the net with ease to make it 1-0 in East Bengal's favour.
33' East Bengal skipper Larindika Ralte lets one rip from distance but his stab at goal whizzes well above the crossbar.
30' That's an excellent save from Chullova! Norde finds himself free in the box and has a shot on goal but Chullova throws his body at it to deny Norde.
30' We're at the half hour mark and are surprisingly yet to see a goal! We had two goals in all of 17 minutes the last time these two clashed in December.
VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
28' Kingsley has done fairly well on the right to keep the wily Justin quiet thus far. The Bagan defence is still lacking effective communication though.
26' Lovely attacking play from Bagan here. Norde socrhes down the left flank and plays a fine cross towards Dicka. He sets himself up well but fails to really connect with the ball and gives Dagar an easy save.
22' First booking of the game. Omar Elhusseiny goes into the book for shoving Aidara. Quite a silly way to pick up a card.
19' Oh boy, this one's close! Abhishek Ambekar makes a mess of a back pass and waits for 'keeper Shilton Paul to clear it. The opportunistic Justin races in between the two and is brought down by Paul but the referee sees no foul. Replays suggest that there was clear contact between Paul and Justin and should've perhaps been a penalty to East bengal.
VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
17' Brought down! Norde tries to sneak past Chullova but the latter has none of it and brings him down on the flank.
14' Clever set-piece work from Bagan. Norde plays the corner short and delivers a low cross off the return but Kingsley Eze fails to convert.
13' First corner of the game! Dicka does really well to pad the ball down with his chest and race down right right but Borja does equally well to play it out for a corner.
10' It's been an interesting opening 10 minutes. East Bengal has looked more threating upfront and has created two chances so far, while Bagan is yet to find its rhythym. Talking point so far remains how Aidara did not even receive a booking for his reckless studs up challenge.
7' Promising move from East Bengal. Laldanmawia Ralte combines well with Antonio Dovale and gets a shot off but it lacks venom.
4' Ooooh, no card for that? Kassim Aidara makes a crunching studs up tackle on Darren Caldeira but the referee is hesitant to pull out a card.
2' Dipanda Dicka with the first shot of the game. He notices the Rakshit Dagar off his line and shoots from distance but fails to trouble the 'keeper.
1'KICKOFF ! Sit back for this is going to be one helluva game!
The century-approaching Kolkata Derby will witness another cracking contest as traditional rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan renew their duel at the Salt Lake Stadium today.
Want to know more about the Kolkata Derby? Here's a compilation of the five most notable encounters - The Kolkata Derby: The five most notable encounters
The standing in the league table is of little significance in this battle of prestige which draws a capacity crowd every time the two come face to face.
The crowds are pouring in!
East Bengal is currently placed fourth in the I-League table with 22 points from 12 games while Mohun Bagan is in the sixth spot with 21 points from 13 games.
Here's how the two teams will line-up:
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This is the 349th Kolkata Derby that we are going to witness.
The last time the two sides clashed in December, East Bengal triumphed 3-2 to register its first Kolkata Derby win since 2016
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Match preview:
Football is dividing the city once again in two warring factions as the local giants – Mohun Bagan and East Bengal – renew their derby clash for the third time in the season, in an I-League fixture here at the Salt lake Stadium on Sunday.
The recent results put East Bengal slightly ahead this season as the red-and-gold brigade drew the first meeting 2-2 (in the Calcutta Football League) before it beat Mohun Bagan 3-2 in the next clash , which happened in the first phase of the ongoing I-League.
-- Bagan fans in high spirits ahead of this evening's crunch clash
The derby clash never lacks in excitement and the tempo this time is generated around Mohun Bagan plotting a revenge of its defeat in the first phase. The two factors that are egging up the Mohun Bagan supporters are the arrival of a new coach in Khalid Jamil and the return of its talented play-maker Sony Norde.
Jamil, who replaced Sankarlal Chakraborty as the gaffer barely two matches ago, has lent the winning touch seeing Mohun Bagan winning both its matches since he took over. Bagan is on 21 points from 13 matches.
The test against East Bengal will be different and the previous results hardly matter in this clash of nerves. “What happened last year (the last match against East Bengal on December 16, 2018) is past. We are thinking about the upcoming match. We have to give our best and hope for a positive result,” Jamil opted to be cautious like any other coach.
“I am trying to inspire the boys to think positive and concentrate till the last minute of the action,” Jamil added ahead of one the biggest tests of his current assignment. Incidentally, Jamil does not have a good record as a coach in the Derby as he lost both the meetings in the I-League when he coached East Bengal last season.
For East Bengal’s Spanish coach Alejandro Menendez, a win is necessary to keep the team in the hunt for the title. East Bengal currently has 22 points from 12 outings and a positive result will see the team jostling with Real Kashmir in the third position in the current standings.
East Bengal’s strength lies in the attacking trio of Jamie Colado, Enrique Esqueda and Jobby Justin and they will be testing Bagan’s defence once again. “In games like these, small details matter. I think that we have already played a lot of matches and will be able to play the right game to secure another win,” Menendez said.
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