On a high after a 5-0 drubbing of I-League champion Bengaluru FC in the last fixture of the season, Mohun Bagan would look to seal a Round of 16 berth when it locks horns with Maziya Sports & Recreation of Maldives, in the AFC Cup football here on Wednesday.
Having won three of its four matches in the second-tier continental club tournament, Group G leader Mohun Bagan, currently on 10 points, is aware that even a draw would be enough to progress to the next round.
Its opponent, Maziya Sports & Recreation, with five points, is in third in Group G with a solitary win in four outings. Two of its games ended in draws and one was a defeat.
In its last game, Mohun Bagan played out a 1-1 draw against Yangon United in its away match to put itself on the verge of booking a historic knockout berth. Trinidadian striker Glen Cornell scored the equalising goal in the 41st minute after Brazilian forward Adilson Dos Santos had put Yangon in front in the 25th minute at the Youth Training Centre.
Even as that result ended Mohun Bagan’s winning streak of three games, it was a creditable show by Sanjoy Sen’s boys to come out unscathed in an away match, more so after four winless matches in the domestic league. The dethroned national champion ended its I-League campaign on a rousing note to finish second overall.
The Kolkata heavyweight will take on South China of Hong Kong in Guwahati on May 11 in the last group game.
The table toppers and second-placed teams of each of the eight groups will qualify for the Round of 16 in the club competition.
Mohun Bagan has never qualified for the knockout round of the AFC Cup, having exited at the group stage in 2007 and 2009.
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