Mohun Bagan Super Giant fought back twice from being a goal down to hold arch-rival East Bengal 2-2 in an intensely contested action of the first Kolkata derby of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24, at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday.
This was the first drawn result – of the Kolkata derby – in the league as Mohun Bagan had won all the previous six since the two started playing in the ISL.
East Bengal took the initiative with a goal in the third minute that set the tone of the highly-charged contest. It took the goal route through the left, seeing Nishu Kumar setting up a measured cross that found midfielder Ajay Chhetri. The midfielder stuck his leg out to divert the ball into the net before the Mohun Bagan defence could react.
AS IT HAPPENED: Mohun Bagan Super Giant vs East Bengal Highlights
Mohun Bagan gradually clawed back into the match and found the equaliser in the 17th minute off Armando Sadiku, who latched on to Brendan Hamill’s floater to find the target. The action remained quite evenly contested till half-time. Sadiku could have doubled his tally in the 40th minute but the Albanian striker shot over an open goal.
Mohun Bagan’s injury problems seemed to be persisting even now as it lost its priced-defender Anwar Ali in 13 minutes as the India international made a return to the side after remaining out for almost four months with an ankle injury.
The new Mohun Bagan coach, Antonio Lopez Habas, had to make more replacements later in the action as the other central defender Brendan Hamill also limped out in the 52nd minute.
East Bengal also lost its Spanish play-maker Saul Crespo in the 18th minute owing to injury but the East Bengal side showed better resilience in effectively adjusting to the changes and looked quite composed despite playing with three foreigners for most of the match.
After the break, East Bengal coach Carles Cuadrat made the right replacements to keep the shape of his side’s attacking balance. East Bengal regained the lead in the 55th minute when Cleiton Silva found the target from the spot.
It happened following a nasty tackle from Deepak Tangri, who brought down the East Bengal forward Naorem Mahesh Singh in an act of frustration.
Desperate to keep its unbeaten derby record in ISL intact, Mohun Bagan fought back again and restored parity in the 87th minute off Dimitri Petratos. Manvir Singh, who had replaced Kiyan Nassiri after the break, set up a probing cross that was brought down by Sahal Abdul Samad on the left end of the East Bengal box.
The Mohun Bagan midfielder essayed a low cross at the East Bengal goal-mouth and this time, Petratos fired it home. East Bengal had a chance to re-establish lead in the injury-time but substitute Edwin Vanspaul failed to keep his attempt on target.
Comments
SHARE