New Delhi: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan produced a stiff and determined performance against Sporting Clube de Goa at the Salt Lake Stadium on Friday to win 1-0 and go top of the I-League.
It was a top of the table clash in the I-League as (then) league leaders Sporting Clube de Goa were up against a rampant Mohun Bagan side at the Salt Lake Stadium with a solitary point separating the two sides.
Mohun Bagan named an unchanged line-up while Sporting made two changes from their match against Mohammedan Sporting last weekend, bringing Harmanjot Khabra and Nathaniel Amos into the staring eleven.
First Half
The match started just as it was supposed to: in an attacking mode. And as expected it was Mohun Bagan who took the initiative as Ishfaq Ahmed sent in a cross from the left in the first minute. His cross though wasn't too accurate, as James Singh could not reach it.
Sporting though didn't let Bagan impress themselves upon them and got their first chance of the match in the fourth minute when a sharply chiseled Samananda Singh cross from the right threw the Bagan defence into pell-mell. The ball was Aimed at Junior, who tried an audacious bicycle kick only to miss the ball completely.
The game turned a bit ugly after that as Sporting captain Wilton Gomes saw the first yellow card of the match when he hacked down Bagan striker Jose Barreto in the fifth minute of the match.
Sporting created their next chance a minute later when a scintillating inter-play between Junior and Bibiano Fernandes saw the latter get the ball inside the Bagan penalty box. Fernandes though hit the ball just over the crossbar in what was the best chance of the match till then.
But the Kolkata giants weren’t going to sit back and soak the pressure. Seven minutes later the Green and Maroons had their own chance thanks to a defensive mistake from Sporting.
A high loose ball in the Sporting box fell to Felip Gomes who failed to clear it. Jose Barreto, who is on fire at the moment, got the ball but instead of hitting it with his favoured right foot, he kept faith in his left but hit the ball wide off the mark.
Mohun Bagan did create more chances than Sporting did but they were guilty of giving away the ball too cheaply. Sporting weren't any better but they were more constructive in their approach.
Bagan midfielder Marcos Pereira had the opportunity to exhibit his set-piece skills in the 20th minute when Bagan were awarded a free-kick near their left touchline after Barreto was fouled by Matthew Gonzalves. Pereira’s free-kick though was hit straight at Sporting custodian Felix D'Souza's hand.
By the middle of the first half reckless and unnecessary challenges had started to punctuate the flow of the match.
Sporting's defensive midfielder Luciano Sabrosa was then substituted in the 27th minute after he got injured. Micky Fernandes came on for him.
But Sporting's spirit was not dampened as they kept on maintaining their attacking intensity. Nathaniel Amos decided to go solo this time and hit at the Bagan goal from 30 yards out after cutting inside from the left side.
His shot though was caught by Bagan goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee.
The tackles continued to fly and it did turn controversial five minutes before half-time when Sporting coach Vishwas Gaonkar was furious after Junior was adjudged to have committed a foul while it looked more likely that he was the victim.
Bagan though didn't bother too much and went very close right on the stroke of half-time. An exquisite cross from the right from James Singh saw Bhaichung Bhutia rise above his marker and head the ball towards the Sporting goal.
The ball hit the inside of the post and was cleared off the line by D'Souza although there was a suspicion that it might just have crossed the goaline.
Second Half
Mohun Bagan started the second half with more intensity and urgency as they knew that they needed to win to maintain their winning run in the I-League.
They appealed for handball just two minutes into the second session when a long throw appeared to have hit Bibiano's hand but the referee thought otherwise.
Bagan played with more pace and Sporting appeared to struggle initially.
But Karim Bencherifa's men couldn't really manage a clear-cut chance until the 55th minute when Marcos and Barreto played a well-crafted one-two only for the former's pass to Barreto to be intercepted and hit out for a corner.
Sporting were living on scraps by this time but they have Junior spearheading their attackline. On the hour mark he drove in a thunderous shot from 25 yards out but Mukherjee was not fooled and parried it out for a corner.
Then in the 66th minute Nathaniel Amos produced another moment of magic as he hoodwinked the Mohun Bagan backline but his effort didn't bear fruits.
Bagan came close to scoring in the 74th minute when a throw-in from Peter Odafe was headed towards the goal by Habibur Rehman. It was deflected onto the Sporting crossbar and rebounded kindly for Bhaichung Bhutia, whose header was cleared off the line by Felip Gomes.
But two minutes later Bagan finally broke the deadlock. A corner from Lalkamal Bhowmick was headed towards the goal by Odafe. Both Habibur and Barreto went for the ball but neither managed to connect with it.
The ball then kindly ricocheted towards Bhutia inside the six-yard box and the Indian international captain took a sharp half-turn and thumped it in with his left foot.
Sporting did try and equalise later on in the match but Bagan had been on top of them in the second period and didn’t allow them the space or the chance to exploit, holding on for a 1-0 victory.
So Mohun Bagan continue their winning run in the league. They have now won a record nine successive league matches and go top of the table, two points ahead of Sporting, who stay second.
Scorer:
Mohun Bagan (Bhaichung Bhutia, 76th minute)
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