A penalty on either sides of the two halves decided the fate of the I-League match where a 10-man Mohun Bagan played out a 1-1 draw with visitor Shillong Lajong FC, at the Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday.
Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka found the target for Bagan in the first spot-kick of the action before the Lajong captain Samuel Lalmuanpuia found the equaliser late in the second half from the other penalty awarded in the match. Bagan was reduced to 10 men with 16 minutes of action remaining when its Nigerian defender Kingsley Eze was marched off following his second booking.
An injury-hit Bagan failed to recall the combination that gave it a 5-0 win over Churchill Brothers in the previous home outing as coach Sanjoy Sen had to find replacements for the likes of Haitian Sony Norde, Liberian Ansumana Kromah and Japanese Yuta Kinowaki , who were ruled out of the match. This left Bagan with two foreigners in Dicka and Eze, while meeting the challenge of the young team from Shillong.
READ: Mohun Bagan routs Churchill Brothers 5-0
Home side Bagan controlled the pace of the action right from the beginning with Dicka taking the attack to the opposition with a couple of good attempts. The real opportunity came in the 12th minute when Bagan’s other attacker Sheikh Faiaz was brought down inside the box by the Lajong defender Rakesh Pradhan. Dicka converted from the spot to have host enjoying an early lead.
Looking more at preserving the lead, Bagan slowed down the pace after the break and that proved costly as Lajong earned a penalty in the 72nd minute when its Yemeni attacking midfielder Aiman Al Hagri was felled inside the box by Bagan's Kingshuk Debnath. Lalmuanpuia found the net from the spot to level the issue as Bagan was reduced to 10 men in the 74th minute ending the possibility of a result.
The result: Mohun Bagan 1 (Dipanda Dicka 12-pen) drew with Shillong Lajong FC 1 (Samuel Lalmuanpuia 72-pen).
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