Mohun Bagan win their 2024 Durand Cup Opener against Downtown Heroes | Match Review
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| Tom Aldred and Ashish Rai against Downtown Heroes (Courtesy: Durand Cup Media) |
Mohun Bagan inaugrated the 133rd edition of the Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in the country, by winning over Downtown Heroes FC, a team from Kashmir, in their first Group game.
Mohun Bagan came out with a hybrid lineup between the Reserves squad currently playing in the Calcutta Football League along with some of the available players from the senior squad.
The most notable starter was our new signing Tom Aldred. The 33 year old Center Back was allocated the coveted responsibility of captaining Mohun Bagan, which made him the first Scottish National to wear the captain’s armband for our glorious club.
With Tom at the Center, a three CB system was fielded with Raj Basfore and Sumit Rathi to Tom’s right and left respectively. Ashish Rai and Ravi Bahadur Ranabhat acted as the right and left wing backs respectively.
In the Center of the midfield stood Glan Martins and Abhishek Suryavanshi. The forward line was led by our youth sensation Suhail Ahmed Bhat with Salahudheen and Taison Singh in the left and right wings respectively.
Overall, it was an evenly contested match. Downtown Heroes got the better share of big chances, but Bagan were successful in fending them off, sometimes due to an individual error by the opposition player or by some clutch defending and goalkeeping.
The first chance of the game fell to Downtown in the 4th minute, a feeble shot from the right half space region by the opposition no. 10 Asrar Rehber was comfortably collected by Bagan keeper Zahid Bukhari, who also happens to hail Kashmir along with Suhail Ahmed Bhat.
Mohun Bagan played lot better compared to CFL, ofcourse due to the addition of Aldred and Ashish. Ashish was successfully able to isolate himself and run in behind hugging the touchline and Abhishek Suryavanshi had the responsibility of feeding him with long balls.
Mohun Bagan came out with a hybrid lineup between the Reserves squad currently playing in the Calcutta Football League along with some of the available players from the senior squad.
The most notable starter was our new signing Tom Aldred. The 33 year old Center Back was allocated the coveted responsibility of captaining Mohun Bagan, which made him the first Scottish National to wear the captain’s armband for our glorious club.
With Tom at the Center, a three CB system was fielded with Raj Basfore and Sumit Rathi to Tom’s right and left respectively. Ashish Rai and Ravi Bahadur Ranabhat acted as the right and left wing backs respectively.
The 133rd IndianOil Durand Cup - Kolkata kicked-off with high spirits and enthusiasm with a grand opening ceremony held at the VYBK. The tournament was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Shri Aroop Biswas, Hon’ble Minster of Youth Services & Sports, Housing & Power, Govt. of WB. pic.twitter.com/ELiuS5fXse
— Durand Cup (@thedurandcup) July 27, 2024
In the Center of the midfield stood Glan Martins and Abhishek Suryavanshi. The forward line was led by our youth sensation Suhail Ahmed Bhat with Salahudheen and Taison Singh in the left and right wings respectively.
Overall, it was an evenly contested match. Downtown Heroes got the better share of big chances, but Bagan were successful in fending them off, sometimes due to an individual error by the opposition player or by some clutch defending and goalkeeping.
The first chance of the game fell to Downtown in the 4th minute, a feeble shot from the right half space region by the opposition no. 10 Asrar Rehber was comfortably collected by Bagan keeper Zahid Bukhari, who also happens to hail Kashmir along with Suhail Ahmed Bhat.
Mohun Bagan played lot better compared to CFL, ofcourse due to the addition of Aldred and Ashish. Ashish was successfully able to isolate himself and run in behind hugging the touchline and Abhishek Suryavanshi had the responsibility of feeding him with long balls.
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| Downtown get a big change (Courtesy: Sony Liv YouTube) |
Bagan inititated a good press and were quite fluid both on and off the ball, and focused on crowding a region to win the ball back as well as while building up and then switching the ball to the other flank to exploit the free space created.
However, Downtown too were equally brilliant. Arranged in a dynamic 4-2-2-2, their Center Back pairing of Zahid Yousif and Redah Atassi were brilliant physically and positionally through most parts of the game and were largely successful in keeping Bagan’s notorious forwards at bay.
Their off the ball press was inititiated the best by their Wide Forwards Aafreen Parray and Darius Snorton, and attacking mids Asrar Rahber and Mohammad Inam. Inam was omnipresent throughout the midfield and he would occassionally drop down to help in buildup.
The more defense oriented Center Mids Basit Ahmed Bhat and Shahmeer Tariq had a good understanding with each other and could effortlessly link up between each other to progress the ball centrally as well as find their cheeky forwards making runs behind the Bagan backline.
Raj Basfore had his occassional slip ups, such as giving away possession to a well executed press by Aafreen in minute 8 and later a one-on-one lost battle against Snorton which completely opened up a big chance for Downtown in the 34th minute but the shot from Snorton luckily was off target.
Otherwise Basfore was good on the ball and his sudden unexpected turns to change direction helped relieve press and open up passing channels. Tom Aldred played as expected by us in a former article analysing him. He waits for the opposition forward, slows him down, intelligently positions himself to block possible passes or throughs and tackles at the very last moment when the forward decides to take a shot himself.
In the 14th minute, Taison's free kick from an acute angle outside the box nearly ended in the back of the net. The ball curved and dipped beautifully and hit the cross bar and got deflected away.
After the 30th minute mark, for the next 15 minutes till half time, the game became rather slow. Players were playing same passes, and seemed to hesitate to attack spaces and win balls. However ust before half time, Mohun Bagan tried generating a few chances from the wings but didn’t bore any fruits.
However, Downtown too were equally brilliant. Arranged in a dynamic 4-2-2-2, their Center Back pairing of Zahid Yousif and Redah Atassi were brilliant physically and positionally through most parts of the game and were largely successful in keeping Bagan’s notorious forwards at bay.
Their off the ball press was inititiated the best by their Wide Forwards Aafreen Parray and Darius Snorton, and attacking mids Asrar Rahber and Mohammad Inam. Inam was omnipresent throughout the midfield and he would occassionally drop down to help in buildup.
The more defense oriented Center Mids Basit Ahmed Bhat and Shahmeer Tariq had a good understanding with each other and could effortlessly link up between each other to progress the ball centrally as well as find their cheeky forwards making runs behind the Bagan backline.
It's all square at the half time.#JoyMohunBagan #MBFT pic.twitter.com/ZdOdxIfQZL
— MBFT : Mohun Bagan (@MBFT89) July 27, 2024
Raj Basfore had his occassional slip ups, such as giving away possession to a well executed press by Aafreen in minute 8 and later a one-on-one lost battle against Snorton which completely opened up a big chance for Downtown in the 34th minute but the shot from Snorton luckily was off target.
Otherwise Basfore was good on the ball and his sudden unexpected turns to change direction helped relieve press and open up passing channels. Tom Aldred played as expected by us in a former article analysing him. He waits for the opposition forward, slows him down, intelligently positions himself to block possible passes or throughs and tackles at the very last moment when the forward decides to take a shot himself.
In the 14th minute, Taison's free kick from an acute angle outside the box nearly ended in the back of the net. The ball curved and dipped beautifully and hit the cross bar and got deflected away.
After the 30th minute mark, for the next 15 minutes till half time, the game became rather slow. Players were playing same passes, and seemed to hesitate to attack spaces and win balls. However ust before half time, Mohun Bagan tried generating a few chances from the wings but didn’t bore any fruits.
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| Suhail Ahmed Bhat scores Bagan's first goal of 24/25 season as well as his first senior goal for the club (Courtesy: Sony Liv YouTube) |
In the 58th minute, Suhail got a golden opportunity to give Bagan the lead ans the opposition defender couldn’t read a cross, but probably Suhail didn’t even expect for the opposition defender to miss the pass, and himself got caught offguard and the ball was snatched away from him before he could connect it towards a possible shot on target.
Ravi Bahadur Ranabhat looked absent for most parts except for a good central carry in the 61st minute. He passed the ball onto Taison, who cut in and took a shot on goal but it was targetted towards the center of the goal thus it becoming a comfortable collection for Umaid Mugloo, the Downtown GK.
Downtown got a huge chance in the 70th minute. Bagan GK Zahid misjudged the path of a corner cross and the ball fell in front of the open goal, but somehow none of the two Downtown players could connect their feet to the ball and it went out of play.
Only three minutes later, Bagan found their break. It was none other than Glan Martins who showed great vision to pass the ball from Zone 14 towards Taison. Simultaneously Ashish Rai made a beautiful run in between the defenders and Taison lent out a through ball towards him. Ashish promptly cut bak the ball in front of the goal where Suhail Ahmed Bhat was ready to tap it in. It was a beautiful goal to watch.
In 79th minute, a long ball caught the Bagan backline napping and Downtown forward Snorton was charging towards the ball. The brave Zahid threw his body in front of the ball to deflect it off, at which he was successful but Snorton had already swung his foot to reach the ball, and instead it hit the hand of Zahid.
Zahid had to be subbed out as his injury couldn’t allow him to continue. He was shaking in pain but his name was being chanted by the Mariners on the stands for his bravado and passion to go all out for the badge. Along with him, also Sumit Rathi had to be stretched out. He had a decent outing and was dependable. We pray for the quick recovery of both Zahid and Sumit.
As Zahid was subbed out, Bagan’s new recruit Dheeraj Singh was brought in along with defender Saurav Bhanwala. Dheeraj made two important clearances which helped Bagan maintain the slender 1-0 lead and thus secure the win in their opening Durand encounter.
In their quest to defend the historic trophy which they sensationally won last season, they will now face Indian Air Force FT on 8th August at the VYBK from 4 pm, followed by Emami East Bengal on 18th August at the VYBK from 7 pm.
Ravi Bahadur Ranabhat looked absent for most parts except for a good central carry in the 61st minute. He passed the ball onto Taison, who cut in and took a shot on goal but it was targetted towards the center of the goal thus it becoming a comfortable collection for Umaid Mugloo, the Downtown GK.
Downtown got a huge chance in the 70th minute. Bagan GK Zahid misjudged the path of a corner cross and the ball fell in front of the open goal, but somehow none of the two Downtown players could connect their feet to the ball and it went out of play.
Only three minutes later, Bagan found their break. It was none other than Glan Martins who showed great vision to pass the ball from Zone 14 towards Taison. Simultaneously Ashish Rai made a beautiful run in between the defenders and Taison lent out a through ball towards him. Ashish promptly cut bak the ball in front of the goal where Suhail Ahmed Bhat was ready to tap it in. It was a beautiful goal to watch.
GLAN
— MBFT : Mohun Bagan (@MBFT89) July 27, 2024
TAISON
ASHISH
SIUUUUHAILLLLLLL
What a Team Goal, that was !!#JoyMohunBagan #MBFTpic.twitter.com/x5RqXnfg7b
In 79th minute, a long ball caught the Bagan backline napping and Downtown forward Snorton was charging towards the ball. The brave Zahid threw his body in front of the ball to deflect it off, at which he was successful but Snorton had already swung his foot to reach the ball, and instead it hit the hand of Zahid.
Zahid had to be subbed out as his injury couldn’t allow him to continue. He was shaking in pain but his name was being chanted by the Mariners on the stands for his bravado and passion to go all out for the badge. Along with him, also Sumit Rathi had to be stretched out. He had a decent outing and was dependable. We pray for the quick recovery of both Zahid and Sumit.
As Zahid was subbed out, Bagan’s new recruit Dheeraj Singh was brought in along with defender Saurav Bhanwala. Dheeraj made two important clearances which helped Bagan maintain the slender 1-0 lead and thus secure the win in their opening Durand encounter.
In their quest to defend the historic trophy which they sensationally won last season, they will now face Indian Air Force FT on 8th August at the VYBK from 4 pm, followed by Emami East Bengal on 18th August at the VYBK from 7 pm.
