Mohun Bagan Super Giant had suffered a 0-3 thrashing to Bengaluru FC in its previous match and head coach Jose Molina was on a tightrope, with pressure to deliver soon.
On an overcast evening in Kolkata, he made his boys do the talking as Mariners put the competition to bed in just over half an hour, beating Mohammedan Sporting 3-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
Jamie Maclaren, Subhasish Bose and Greg Stewart scored for the host as it returned to winning ways in style, inverting its previous result in the Indian Super League (ISL) fixture.
Mohun Bagan started the match without a conventional No. 6, with Anirudh Thapa and Lalengmawia Ralte (Apuia) in the midfield. Though that could have left it vulnerable to counterattacks, it chose attack over defence, raining hellfire on the Black Panthers.
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It had 22 shots in the game, with 12 on target, to Mohammedan Sporting’s nine, of which only one could trouble goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, who was only left cheerleading his team for most part of the game.
Maclaren, making his first ISL start for Mohun Bagan, came close to scoring in the third minute when he beat three defenders around him to force a save by Padam Chhetri. A minute later Apuia forced a save, shooting from outside the box.
Four minutes later, Chhetri was beaten. From a corner, Liston Colaco got the ball to Stewart, who set up Maclaren to make the home team fans roar with ecstasy.
Mohammedan Sporting continued to be second-best throughout the first half as Stewart, a Golden Ball winner in his debut season in the ISL, schooled the newly promoted team, setting up Subhasish from a freekick, which the Indian fullback headed home just after the half-hour mark.
The pair of Subhasish and Stewart continued to dazzle the visitors and the former’s pass from his own half saw the Scot carry the ball into the box, shift to his right and then find the left-bottom corner, completing a memorable night for him and his side.
Mohammedan Sporting tried to look for answers by replacing Carlos Franca with Cezar Manzoki in the second half but the Mariners rode high on confidence to maintain a well-worn web of four-man defence, denying any chance for a reply.
With the win, Mohun Bagan climbed to fourth in the table, with seven points from four games while Mohammedan Sporting remained 10th, with four points from as many games.
Molina’s boys will face arch-rival East Bengal in their next game on October 19, which is languishing at the bottom of the table after a 0-2 loss to Jamshedpur FC earlier in the day.
Mohammedan Sporting, on the other hand, will host Kerala Blasters on October 20.
Match score: Mohun Bagan Super Giant 3 (Maclaren 8’, Subhasish 31’. Stewart 36’) bt Mohammedan Sporting 0
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