17.8.2007, Calcutta: This was football as good as it could get.
The refereeing controversy going into the El Classico
of Indian football was a thing of the past. So was the fuss the Mohun
Bagan officials created in the build-up. What stood out was the way 11
players each from two powerhouses of Indian football lit up a gloomy
evening sky over the Salt Lake Stadium on Friday.
One
cannot expect a better advertisement of the game than Mohun Bagan’s 4-3
win over East Bengal. Less than a couple of hours later, the national
team’s 6-0 demolition of Cambodia in the ONGC Nehru Cup in Delhi made it
an even more memorable day for Indian football.
Mohun
Bagan actually raised hopes of avenging the five-goal ignominy —in the
1975 IFA Shield final against East Bengal — when PC Lalawmpuia, Jose
Ramirez Barreto and S. Venkatesh put the green-and-maroons 3-0 up inside
the first session. East Bengal coach Subrata Bhattacharya must have
given his boys a Rafael Benitez-like lecture during the break as his
side came back to raise visions of a Liverpool-like comeback (against AC
Milan in the 2005 Champions League final).
The
mercurial Alvito D’Cunha played the key role in East Bengal’s
fightback. He scored twice within 16 minutes of resumption and was
instrumental in most of the forays into the Mohun Bagan box.
A costly mistake by the East Bengal defence allowed Venkatesh to make it 4-2. That doused the red-and-gold fire to a large extent. Edmilson did score via a penalty to reduce the margin, but that mistake remained the talking point.
A costly mistake by the East Bengal defence allowed Venkatesh to make it 4-2. That doused the red-and-gold fire to a large extent. Edmilson did score via a penalty to reduce the margin, but that mistake remained the talking point.
After a long time, the
Salt Lake Stadium throbbed in the presence of around one lakh people.
They shouted every time Jose Ramirez Barreto dodged past a rival or
Edmilson tested the goalkeeper.
A
heavy shower before kick-off couldn’t pour cold water on the enthusiasm
in and around the stadium. Mohun Bagan supporters were soon dancing in
the rain when East Bengal’s Ghanaian defender Abdul Samed undid the good
work of teammate M. Suresh.
Suresh’s
lunging tackle denied Lalawmpuia in the nick of time but Samed, to
everybody’s surprise, passed the ball back to goalkeeper Abhra Mondal
only to see Lalawmpuia pouncing on it, turning quickly and placing it to
perfection.
It started a goal-rush which exploded in astounding fashion. Never before did a derby see seven goals.
East
Bengal coach Subrata Bhattacharya’s ploy of using Amulya Mondal — who
had not been in the XI in the four previous matches — as a midfield
blocker didn’t work and he had to be replaced by Dipendu Biswas in the
first quarter itself.
The strategy of
employing Madhab Das to nullify Barreto’s brilliance also backfired as
the Brazilian proved too intelligent for his marker. Madhab tried
everything — pushing, lunging, pulling jersey — but Barreto could not be
contained.
Madhab, in fact, gave his
coach another shock in the 35th minute. As Lalawmpuia delivered a
goalmouth cross, Barreto sprinted ahead only to be tripped by his
marker. Penalty was the call. The Brazilian converted it without any
fuss.
Soon it was 3-0. Venkatesh outwitted Anupam Sarkar to slot home from close.
However,
Mohun Bagan were as frail in defence as they were beguiling in attack.
East Bengal, completely outplayed and exposed in the first half,
responded with conviction after the break, thanks to Alvito D’Cunha’s
brilliance.
The attacking medio pulled
one back within seconds of resumption with a stunning left-footer from
about 25 yards. He then cashed in on goalkeeper Shilton Paul’s folly,
injecting life into what appeared to be a one-sided affair.
Despite
Venkatesh’s second goal in between, Edmilson earned and converted a
penalty in the 70th minute to keep East Bengal afloat. It was again a
correct call. Subrata Sarkar’s handling of the match couldn’t have been
better.
Shilton again unnecessarily
came out of his line, giving Dipendu Biswas the chance to complete a
fine comeback. But his header lacked power and the Mohun Bagan goalie
regrouped in time to clear the ball as it was rolling into an open net.
Mohun Bagan scored four times against their arch-rivals for the first
time. But the records were only for the statisticians’ book. It was
football which was the real winner.
East Bengal coach Subrata Bhattacharya alleged that his fear turned true and Mohun Bagan won the derby with the referee’s help.
“The referee had a huge role. I knew he would be under pressure because of the way the IFA formed a panel to evaluate his performance. I must say Mohun Bagan won today with the help of the referee,” Bhattacharya said after the match.
East Bengal coach’s attack on the official Subrata Sarkar came minutes after the club officials’ demand for an inquiry into the way “outside forces” conspired to hand them the defeat.
Addressing the media, senior East Bengal official Shanti Ranjan Dasgupta said they would soon call an executive committee meeting to decide if they would continue playing the league under the supervision of local referees.
Mohun Bagan — who had played under “protest” — have now reasons to be in the seventh heaven.
“I don’t want to comment on the refereeing. What matters most to me is that we are on top now,” coach Carlos Roberto Pereira said.
“I’ve decided to keep quiet against criticism that we are not good at this and that. This is my way of replying to those critics,” the Brazilian maintained.
Incidentally, this is Pereira’s first win in the derby match as the Brazilian could never beat the arch-rivals in the last season as East Bengal coach.
“Certainly, this is my memorable win as a coach in India,” he said, smilingly.
TEAMS
Mohun Bagan: Shilton
Paul; Habibur Rahman, Peter Odafe, Peter Siddiqui, Rauf Khan; Lalkamal
Bhowmick (Sumon Dutta, 71), James Singh, S. Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh
(Ishfaq Ahmed, 88), Jose Ramirez Barreto; PC Lalawmpuia
East Bengal: Abhra
Mondal; Gurpreet Singh, M. Suresh, Abdul Samed (Anupam Sarkar, 39),
Madhab Das (Chandan Das, 46), Saumik Dey; Amulya Dey (Dipendu Biswas,
15), Jayanta Sen, Alvito D’Cunha, Dipankar Roy, Edmilson
Referee: Subrata Sarkar
Here are the match videos :
Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070818/asp/sports/story_8206440.asp
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