26.9.2006, Calcutta: A league is not always won by the favourites, but the one who clinch crucial victories at crucial times.
In
this analysis, East Bengal, despite losing the prestige tie against
Mohun Bagan 0-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday, are still
better-placed to reclaim the CFL Premier Division title from the
arch-rivals.
For the defending
champions Mohun Bagan, losing points to less-fancied teams such as
Calcutta Port Trust or George Telegraph in this marathon competition may
cost them dear in the end.
Although
Bhaichung Bhutia alleged that the tournament was “fixed” in favour of a
particular team (without naming East Bengal) and Mohun Bagan’s retaining
the title would be akin to a “miracle,” the reality points to this
simple logic that wins against small teams do eventually mould a team’s
passage to the title.
On paper, the
tournament is still open as East Bengal lead the eight-team table with
22 points from 10 matches, followed by Mohun Bagan — who are on 21
points, but have played a game more.
However,
if it’s the league title East Bengal are aiming at now, their thunder
has already been stolen by the arch-rivals. Even if Mohun Bagan fail to
defend the title, their back-to-back wins against East Bengal can more
than make up that damage.
The pattern
of Tuesday’s return-leg was, however, different from the first one, but
the result was identical. Exactly a month ago, East Bengal dominated the
entire proceedings but suffered the ignominy, thanks to Bhaichung’s
opportunistic strike.
In comparison,
the second derby was almost an apology, yet Ndem Guy Herve found the all
important opening for Mohun Bagan. The Cameroonian was brilliantly fed
by Lalkamal Bhowmick from the deep in the 49th minute. He took his
marker Gurpreet Singh in his stride and stole a right-footed volley from
the edge of the box, which beat goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar hands
down.
The match, however, lived up to
its reputation towards the end for all the wrong reasons. Two minutes
from time, Bhaichung Bhutia was engaged in a heated exchange with
referee Debashish Mishra, leading to his receiving marching orders.
Surprisingly, the India captain refused to leave the ground as per rule,
despite the fourth referee’s repeated requests. A few seconds back, he
was challenged by the East Bengal ’keeper from a 50-50 situation, but
Mishra didn’t respond to the striker’s appeal for a penalty.
That
sense of denial must have sparked Bhaichung’s anger, leading to his
uncharacteristic attempt of shoving the referee. But he clearly flouted
the rule by not leaving the ground.
Then
came another red-card, inside the injury time, East Bengal’s M. Suresh
being the culprit, when he had invited the second booking from the
referee with a nasty foul on Lalkamal. But unlike Bhaichung, he left the
park immediately. In the second half, Mohun Bagan had a few chances.
Lalkamal acted selfishly when he wasted a golden chance by not laying it
off for the unmarked Dipendu Biswas and instead going for the goal
himself.
TEAMS
Mohun Bagan:
Sangram Mukherjee; Eduardo Coelho, Sanjeev Maria, Mehrajuddin Wadao
(Bijay Basfore, 81), Dulal Biswas (Gautam Debnath, 87), Deepak Mondal,
Chinmoy Sarkar, Lalkamal Bhowmick, Ndem Guy Herve, Bhaichung Bhutia,
Ayan Chowdhury (Dipendu Biswas, 65).
East Bengal: Rajat
Ghosh Dastidar; Vincent Pires, Anupam Sarkar (Gurpreet Singh, 46), M.
Suresh, Saumik Dey, Luiz Octavio de Souza, Chandan Das, Snehashish
Chakraborty, Marcio Fernandes Thomas (Dipankar Roy, 70), Syed Rahim
Nabi, Debabrata Roy (Vimal Pariyar, 57).
Referee: Debashish Mishra.
Man-of-the-Match: Ndem Guy Herve.
Here are the match videos :
Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060927/asp/sports/story_6799365.asp
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