A 'Sweet' Victory for Mohun Bagan against Emami East Bengal | ISL Match Review

A 'Sweet' Victory for Mohun Bagan against Emami East Bengal | ISL Match Review

Pic Courtesy : MBSG/ISL Media


Derbies are always special. The word derby has been associated with many matches which don't possess any of the prerequisites of being a derby. A derby is match between two teams who have had a long, long history. The teams are not just football teams, they are part of the culture. They should influence and integrate their presence into every strata of the society.

Derbies are for everyone, the rich the poor, the upper and lower, the good and the bad. And the best thing about derbies is that they are always unpredictable. You might be on a 100 matches unbeaten streak, but what happens on the day of the derby will decide who gets the bragging rights.

But, unlike in the last few seasons, this derby was different. It was the 403rd occasion that these two historical giants of Indian football were gonna play against each other. The Durand derby being cancelled, this was also the first derby of the current season.

Arguably Asia's biggest derby, the match was intense even before it had begun. Off field tension has raised the temperature in this part of the country for the last couple of months. The transfer saga of former Mohun Bagan player Anwar Ali to Emami East Bengal has been the hot topic in the Indian football circuit.

The shady nature of the deal, the outlandish, and at times childish ploys to delay the proceedings to buy as much time for Anwar as possible has been evident in the last few days. People who have been a hero to many of the Indian football fans over the years have changed their colors. And the fans were enraged as well. Inter club transfer between these two teams is not new, but this episode was not usual. And it added more flavor to the derby. 

Emami East Bengal came in to the match riding on a 4 game loosing streak in the ISL. They had a new man in the dugout in Oscar Bruzon. Mohun Bagan on the other hand had just destroyed Mohammedan in the mini derby just before the international break came into effect. Bagan coach Jose Molina was hopeful that the team will carry its good form.

The gaffer chose Vishal Kaith in goal and a four man defense over the usual three man back. Subhasis started as the left back, Aldred and Alberto were the two centre backs and Ashis Rai started as the right back. Apuia and Thapa started in the midfield. Manvir and Liston started on the wings. Upfront were Greg Stewart and Jamie Maclaren.

The match begun in somewhat timid fashion. It looked like both the teams were trying to play it safe initially. But it didn't take Bagan long to grow into the game. They won their first corner in as early as in the fourth minute and came close to scoring. Bagan built up attack after attack and East Bengal could do nothing but defend.

Bagan were clearly instructed to build the game from the back, but it took time to get the midfield into play. Once they did, Greg Stewart got the desired freedom to operate. One of the stand out players of the first half was Liston Colaco.

He looked like a man on a mission and Bagan left no stone unturned to make the most of his pace and trickery. East Bengal came close through Cleiton Silva in the 12th minute of the game, but his timid effort was saved by Vishal Kaith.

As the game progressed, it was clear that the battle was between an attacking Bagan against an East Bengal team who have been clearly instructed to hold their ground and not be overzealous in their attacking endeavours.

Maclaren came closest to opening the scoring in the 17th minute of the game. Greg Stewart was at his artistic best and he somehow found Maclaren who had made a run in between the defenders. But his shot was straight at the keeper and saved. The move was a brilliant one. 

Bagan thought they had scored in the 18th minute through the head of Manvir Singh, and they did. But Indian referees being Indian referees called it offside. Replays clearly showed Manvir was onside, but there was no way of overturning the decision.

Year after year, season after season, this same clownery goes on. But guess what, our federation still lacks "funds" for implementing something that even smaller nations have, the VAR. East Bengal got away with this one, and truly it was a shame.

Manvir came close again in the 25th minute, this time off a corner from Greg Stewart, but his header was saved by the keeper. The Mohun Bagan support was in full voice during the match. Especially when a certain "sweet kid" got the ball.

There was no love lost between the two as every time East Bengal's number four got the ball, the stadium was filled with boos and whistles. These are the same fans who chanted his name last season, the same people who loved him. Once you turn your backs against Mohun Bagan, there's no turning back. The Sweet Kid learnt it the hard way yesterday.

All this jeering surely affected his game as he had more miss passes than usual, he didn't attempt many long balls, neither did he make many overlapping runs. Bagan took full advantage of that as they kept piling on the attacks. And finally the breakthrough arrived.

40th minute of the game, it was Manvir down the right who swept in the perfect ground cross to find Jamie Maclaren. Maclaren had drifted in between Anwar and Hector and made no mistake, scoring a brilliant goal at the near post. It was a goal with class written all over it, a first time shot with pin point accuracy.

This is why he was brought in. This is the reason Bagan paid the big bucks. Jamie got his first "Boro Match'' Goal and the stadium erupted to cheer him on. Imagine scoring and celebrating your first Kolkata Derby goal in front of 60,000 fans. Surreal, isn't it? Bagan lead the game 1-0 at half time thanks to this worldie from the big Aussie.

The second half saw Mohun Bagan pile on attack after attack. Greg Stewart was at his best and he delighted the fans with his wizardy. Liston also improved on his first half performance and created a lot of chances for the team. But finishing let us down. Decision making in the final third needs to improve and it was clearly on show.

Mohun Bagan could have scored atleast 3-4 goals more if not for the poor finishings and decision making. East Bengal never looked even close to making a comeback. Liston and Greg were the pick of the lot as they combined well to create chance after chance for the team.

The second half saw Dimi Petratos coming on for Jamie Maclaren. And almost instantly he was involved. His pass to Greg Stewart in the box saw Greg coming under a tackle from Anwar Ali. The foul was genuine and it was a clear penalty.

But this is India, the clear things are not clear in this part of the world and hence the penalty was not given. But the pain of the wrong decision didn't last long as Gill brought down Dimi inside the box and this time the penalty was awarded. And who else to step up?

Bagan's hero and the star of the Mariners' eye, Dimi Petratos stepped up and scored. The stadium erupted. The match was sealed. And the player everyone wanted to see on the pitch scored. A perfect night for Bagan.

The match ended 2-0, but in reality, the scoreline should have been much worse. Bagan's finishing needs to improve a lot if we are to retain the shield. At times Jamie was the only attacking player upfront. Even with this team, we could not score many more goals against a hapless East Bengal side. The win indeed tastes sweet, but no one can deny the work that still needs to be done.

During the Anwar Ali saga, Club Chairman Dr. Sanjiv Goenka had made a statement saying, We are Mohun Bagan, we are dignified, we don't respond provocation. To add to that, we do respond to provocation, but we do it on the pitch. We win matches and trophies, that's how we shut people up.

Bagan have had to deal with a lot of on as well as off field issues in this season. But one thing is for sure, we may have ten thousand problems, but beating East Bengal at the "Mohun-Bharati" ain't one of them.


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