Durand Cup 2023: ISL champ Mohun Bagan SG gets the better of I-League winner Punjab FC

Mohun Bagan now has six points going into its concluding group A fixture against arch-rivals East Bengal on August 12.

Hugo Boumous celebrates after scoring the second goal in the Durand Cup 2023 match between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Punjab FC in Kolkata. | Photo Credit: Durand Cup Media

Indian Super League (ISL) champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant got the better of I-League champion Roundglass Punjab FC by a brace of goals (2-0) to secure its second consecutive win in the Group A fixture of the 132nd Durand Cup, at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Monday.

Expecting a stiff opposition from Punjab FC -- which will be making its ISL debut later this season -- Mohun Bagan inducted six senior team players in its rolls compared to the youth side that had won the opening match (5-0) against Bangladesh Army FT.

Mohun Bagan, which also played two foreigners in defender Brendan Hamill and French play-maker Hugo Boumous, dominated the action and found the break off Punjab FC defender Melroy Assisi’s own goal in the 23rd minute.

Boumous doubled the lead just after the interval as Mohun Bagan held on to the two-goal cushion for the remainder of the action to tally six points from two games and rise to the top of the four-team group.

In the other match played earlier in the day, Indian Army Football Team downed the Super Cup winner Odisha FC by a solitary goal, in a Group F fixture at the SAI Stadium, Kokrajhar.

Liton Shil found the all important goal late in the first half to give the Army side the full quota of points. Shil was later sent off with a red card as Army played the last 13 minutes with 10 men.

The results:

Mohun Bagan SG 2 (Melroy Assisi 23-og, Hugo Boumous 48) bt Roundglass Punjab FC 0; Odisha FC 0 lost to Indian Army FT 1 (Liton Shil 43).