Mohammedan Sporting failed to utilise the advantage of having its rival East Bengal reduced to nine men for two-thirds of the action to their Indian Super League (ISL) 11 fixture ending in a tame goalless draw, at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
Game No. 1001 of ISL never stood out as an advertisement of good football as East Bengal botched up its game with a display of poor temperament while Mohammedan Sporting failed to produce the efficiency that could have fetched its second win of the tournament.
East Bengal picked up its first point after six straight losses while Mohammedan Sporting tilled five points from seven matches as both stayed in their respective positions at the bottom of the table.
AS IT HAPPENED | EAST BENGAL FC VS MOHAMMEDAN SC HIGHLIGHTS
The opening session belonged to East Bengal both in terms of attack and possession. The host started well and created a few good openings but the goal remained elusive as its Greek and French combination in the attack - Dimitrios Diamnatakos and Madih Talal - failed to find the right touch that could produce the break.
Just when East Bengal tried to pull up its resources in search of the goal, it lost Nandhakumar Sekar to a direct red card in the 28th minute.
The East Bengal winger was hauled for dangerously swinging his arm which hit his marker Amarjit Singh Kiyam on his face. Before East Bengal could recover from the loss of Nandhakumar, it saw the ejection of its other winger Naorem Mahesh Singh, who received his second booking for showing dissent to the referee’s decision two minutes later.
This virtually killed the prospect of a good battle as East Bengal fell back to defending and Mohammedan Sporting struggled to put together an effective attack plan that could beat the opponent’s defence.
Mohammedan Sporting’s frustration at not being able to breach the East Bengal citadel was evident in the heated exchange between its Uzbek play-maker Mirjalol Kasimov and Argentine forward Alexis Gomez.
The incident happened just before the end of the first half as Mohammedan Sporting was repeatedly frustrated in its bid to score by East Bengal, which packed eight men into its box.
East Bengal almost got a penalty in the 21st minute when Diamantakos looked to have been brought down by the Mohammedan Sporting’s midfielder Lalremsanga Fanai inside the box.
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But referee Harish Kundu had other ideas as he signalled a free-kick just outside the Sporting box, which ended with a save by Bhaskar Roy off Talal’s free-kick.
Mohammedan Sporting was also at the receiving end of a similar decision when its appeal for a penalty was waved off in the 82nd minute after Makan Chothe’s attempt seemed to come off East Bengal defender Lalchungnunga’s arm.
Mohammedan Sporting, enjoying around 75 per cent ball possession, was all over the attacking third in the final quarter but East Bengal put up a brave defensive act to secure the point that appeared to have deserted it when it went down to nine men in the first 30 minutes of the action.
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