Mohun Bagan SG 1 - 0 United Kolkata SC | CFL Match Review 2026/27

byAnik Nandi -

Mariners extend Win Streak despite Questionable Referee Decisions!



Mohun Bagan won the first match against MG Pathachakra, drew the next against Kidderpore SC and won against Kalighat MS. With 7 matches, the unbeaten streak under new coach, Bastab Roy, continued. This was the Starting Lineup for Mohun Bagan vs United Kolkata SC:



The match started off with strong physical dominance from UKSC. Sayan was fouled in the very first minute, but he recovered and chose to play the entire 90 minutes with the pain.

Sandeep made a couple of brilliant runs into the attacking third. He sprinted down the right wing, pierced through into the box and played it behind. It was unfortunately blocked. Minutes later, an amazing cross was met by Gogocha's header inside the box which rattled the nets, but was surprisingly called offside, which seemed safe instead.

The scores stayed level but the game was one-sided for the first 15 minutes. Aniket made a fumble on Tanmay's floated freekick but Bagan players couldn't capitalize on it. To keep possession almost spelt trouble due to Raj's poor first touch, who nutmegged the attacker next but lost his footing on shoulder tackle. Ultimately, Dippendu and Umer covered enough to result in just a corner.

On counter attack, Sayan bolted down from own half, shifting towards the middle and ultimately sending in a pass for Sandeep. He took the final shot from edge of the box on his right foot but a defender lunged forward to block it in time.

Sayan's intent was seen but the final pass was missing from the action. He even attempted to curl a top right corner from the left wing cut inside but the ball with all that power kept going high. Head Coach, Panos and Assistant Coach, Kostas watched the young colts take on UKSC on Tuesday afternoon. Jobby Justin joined UKSC recently and his experience in CFL could have been more effective had it not been for Tanmay challenging him all across the pitch.

A few minutes later, UKSC pressed high and got the ball back. Alister passed it in front when Dippendu was out of position. Luckily, Umer did an excellent job defending the face of the goal. Syed seemed indecisive, which was evident from bad outings and a poor touch which could have gone real bad, due to high press.

Sandeep tried to find the combination in the attacking half, playing 1-2 with Suhail who started in the midfield to launch the attack. Upon transition, Sayan received the ball to pass it back to Sayan but Suhail went too deep to recieve the final cut back. With ample gametime, this team could find the synergy to score goals.

A minute later, Sayan made another run and set up Rohit this time, who slammed it towards the near post but alas, it whizzed off-target. He could have chosen to pass it to Suhail who was available in the box to slot into the empty net.

In the midfield, Rohit was kicked in the head while defending and the referee didn't stop the play despite him going down due to head injury. This was an outrageous decision which could have been fatal for the player. No card was shown for dangerous play.

UKSC made an early sub, replacing Vinil for Babai due to injury. Jobby was shown the yellow card for fouling. Gogocha dribbled on the right wing to put in a cross for Suhail, but it was cleared before-hand.

In 43', Sayan made a solo sprint down the left wing, swerving inside. He penetrated all the way to the edge of the box, sending in an inch-perfect pass to Suhail. He stretched his foot and got the tap on it for the ball to roll past GK Aniket and hit the inside of the post before hugging the net. Mohun Bagan took the lead in the game.

In the added time, Sayan heads the ball off a cross which is brought down by hand by Bhupinder in the box. Unfortunately, referee didn't give the penalty.



In the 2nd Half, Tanmay misheaded the ball in the box while defending which could have gone sideways. It resulted in a corner and then cleared safely.

Bagan decided to defend together and consolidate while Sayan tried to curl another one from same position at edge of the box but failed again. While UKSC played with 2 forwards, Bagan man-marked both, keeping CB Dippendu as backing. This 3-back setup was enough to stop UKSC's posed threats. However, the wings often lost possession with no one to play behind, and no midfield pivot. They could have switched with long balls or gone for triangle set-ups for quick transitions, reducing midfield press but, the coach preferred one-on-one challenges, confident in the ability of the players to do the job.

Sayan was getting primed up for the matches ahead, with incredible pace he burst forth forcing the defender to push him down and get yellow carded. At 61', Aniket rushed out of the box towards Rohit, who got hold of the ball just to set up Suhail, who missed an open header into the empty net with no pressure. Terrible miss from the striker! 4 minutes later, Rohit centres the ball for Suhail, who dribbles past but for some reason, turns and crosses it BACK from the front of the goal. He then gets the ball back in the box and Suhail fails to slot it into the net. Panos could be seen clutching his face in disbelief at that moment. Not the kind of surprise you want to give the head coach if you want game time in the senior team...

Gogocha was effective in attacking half but he still has to work on his defensive skills as his bad judgements left the team out of possession sometimes.

A few minutes later, during corner preparation of UKSC, Amit hits Sayan in the face in a tussle. Sayan goes to the ground and players rush in. No card is shown to Amit for misconduct!

At 77', Bivan replaced Rohit. Tanmay sees yellow card for a foul in the midfield. At 80', Suhail dribbles from left wing, penetrating along the edge of the box. His final shot gets deflected out for a corner. The corner was beautifully taken, and Suhail rushes to meet it, but the header goes wide off the near post.

The next minute, Umair shoots from far to challenge Syed. He chests the ball down instead of grabbing it, resulting in a spill. Syed gets to the ball first, covering it with his gloves. Jobby reaches the spot and catches his arms with feet and goes down, rather easily. Referee blows the whistle to signal penalty for United Kolkata SC. Their main striker, Bidyashagar steps up to take it. The Maidaan is never easy to play in. The Mariners' voices echoed to throw him off and he walked up to shoot. The shot rolled outside of the left post. Bagan retained the lead as the game was coming to a close!

In 87', Bivan sent a through pass to Sayan, who went past with great pace, with clear chance to score, but was brought down by direct tackle to the feet. The second yellow came out for Amit, resulting in red card and suspension. In 90+3', Sandeep was on his feet to send in an intelligent through to Suhail, but the striker couldn't read the game. A minute later, Jobby rushed into Umer and brought his elbow down on him on purpose. A dangerous foul that calls for multiple-match suspension. The second yellow was shown and he showed his frustration as he exited the ground, hurling verbal abuses in the air.

The final whistle blew. Bagan won the match and secured +3 points against all odds.



In the post-match press conference, both team coaches showed their disapproval towards the quality of referee decisions in the match. As UKSC players were leaving, Mariners cheered and applauded for all the players except Jobby, who continued his unsportsman-like behaviour from inside the bus towards the Mariners fanbase. Late that night, he came to his senses, sending a general apology story on Instagram, but the damage was already done!

Nevertheless, Mohun Bagan won on their own terms and played in style. Man of the Match award was given to Suhail for scoring the goal and creating many chances. Still a long way to go, if Bagan want to take down the defending champions this season!



Mohun Bagan will face Calcutta Customs Club on 1 August, 2026 at 3 PM on Mohun Bagan AC Ground. As the Coach aims to finish in Top 6 first and enable young players with sufficient game time under the badge, Bagan is expected to field a similar team with the aim to keep the win streak alive!

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Author - Anik Nandi Anik Nandi
Writer, Journalist and Editorial Head at MBFT
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