21 January 08, Calcutta: You just cannot get
enough of Bhaichung Bhutia. The peerless India and Mohun Bagan captain
was at it again on Monday, scoring a brace and leading his team to their
fifth consecutive win over East Bengal at the Salt Lake Stadium.
The 2-0 victory helped Mohun Bagan move up
to fourth place in the ONGC I-League with 20 points from 12 matches,
seven points shy of leaders Dempo. There was, however, no change in
fortune for East Bengal even under new coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee,
as they continued their slide towards relegation. With eight points from
12 matches, the red-and-golds are precariously placed just above
Salgaocar (eight) in the 10-team table.
Such was East Bengal’s misery that they
failed to take advantage of Mohun Bagan backline cover Douglas da
Silva’s marching order in the 48th minute owing to double booking.
Bhaichung’s two goals put him on a par
with Mahindra United’s Yusif Yakubu with 80 goals as the highest scorers
in the meet. These goals had all the qualities East Bengal lacked —
athleticism, balance and grace. The first goal, scored in the 28th
minute, was an example of how deadly could be the sting of
theBhaichung-Jose Ramirez Barreto combine.
It all started with East Bengal wing-half
Syed Rahim Nabi’s atrocious cross which landed in the Mohun Bagan
half-line instead of their box. Lalkamal Bhowmick delivered the ball
quickly in the path of Barreto on the left. The Brazilian began the
counter-move as M. Bolaji tried to retreat. Seeing Bhaichung darting
ahead, the Brazilian released a perfect ball in the direction of his
captain. Bhaichung took a first-time shot which beat Subrata Paul at the
near post.
If that goal was all about the striker’s
power and grace, the second spoke volumes of his athleticism. Barreto
again set it up in the 62nd minute and Bhaichung was already inside the
box facing his challenger Surkumar Singh. The East Bengal defender went
for a desperate sliding tackle and the ball ricocheted off Bhaichung’s
legs towards the goal. Paul did his best to push it back with a
full-stretched dive, only to see it land near Dharamjit Singh’s feet.
Mohun Bagan medio, to everybody’s surprise, struck the post from close.
The ball spun back to the other end for Bhaichung to snap up the
rebound.
East Bengal, with neither a leader like
Bhaichung nor an idea, were badly missing Edmilson in the upfront. But
those who were present at the ground didn’t show any imagination either
to justify the value of their jersey.East Bengal started vigorously with
Douglas intercepting an inviting Mehtab Hussain cross in the 13th
minute. Nine minutes later, Mohun Bagan survived another close call, as
referee Dinesh Nair refused to pay heed to East Bengal’s appeal for
penalty when left-back N. Mohan Raj apparently pushed Mehtab inside the
box.
But these adventures paled into
insignificance as Mohun Bagan mid-field started blooming. Bhaichung then
gave it the meaningful expression with the style of potential
champions.
TEAMS
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee;
Habibur Rahman Mondal, Peter Odafe, N.S. Manju, N. Mohan Raj; James
Singh, Douglas da Silva Lalkamal Bhowmick (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury,
56), Dharamjit Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto; Bhaichung Bhutia.
East Bengal: Subrata Paul; Surkumar
Singh, Julius Owinho, M. Bolaji, Soumik Dey (Snehashish Chakraborty,
46, Dipankar Roy, 70); Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehrajuddin Wadao, Mehtab
Hussain, Alvito D’Cunha, Debabrata Sarkar; McDonald Mukansi (Dipendu
Biswas, 75).
Referee: Dinesh Nair.
Here are the match videos :
Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080122/jsp/sports/story_8811705.jsp
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