tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636349899138999362024-03-13T22:51:31.985-07:00East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan | The Kolkata Derby | News, Photos, VideosHrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-52676619616580396702014-02-16T06:54:00.003-08:002014-12-12T20:24:24.247-08:00East Bengal 0-1 Mohun Bagan Rovers Cup Semi Final 2001<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">MUMBAI, DECEMBER 7: An 87th minute strike by spearhead Amar Ganguly saw Mohun Bagan knook-out arch-rivals and Calcutta League champions Kingfischer East Bengal, 1-0, in the all-Bengal semi-final clash of the 10Oth Bristol Rovers Cup Football Tournament at the jam-packed Cooperage, on Sunday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Bagan were deserving winners. They called the tune after a slow start and never looked back. The first-half was mostly a listless affair and two tries, one each by Bagan’s Debjit Ghosh and RP Singh were easily dealt with by East Bengal custodian Sangram Mukherjee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The second-half of the game was contested at a blistering pace. Bagan dictated terms in a sustained manner, muffed several chances and then scored the match-winner late in the game. The goal sent their legion of supporters into raptures and came at a time when East Bengal were reduced to ten men, after their livewire linkman Suley Musah was shown the red card for a blatant foul on Bagan’s RP Singh in 79th minute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">With this victory, Bagan qualified to meet Goa League champions Zee Churchill Brothers in Tuesday’s final, which will commence at 4.30 p.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">East Bengal had a golden opportunity to wrest the lead, following a swift counter-offensive in the 48th minute. Olim Talliaey caught the entire Bagan defence on the wrong foot with a forward pass. Bagan goal-tender Bivash Ghosh failed to cut off the pass after leaving his charge, but striker Sreekant Dutta shot wide off the untenanted goal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Bagan made good use of the flanks to build up their raids. Their left flank bristled today with RP Singh stealing the show with his speedy runs. One of his long-range tries, from one such raid, was confidently taken care of by EB goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee in the 50th minute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The absence of striker Dos Santos was felt in the Bagan ranks and their other Brazilian import Jose Barretto was well-policed by EB stopper Jackson Agaypong, who was a tower of strength in defence for the losers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In the 72nd minute, Bagan left wing-back Lolendro Singh sent in a long precise diagonal to Barretto, who was unmarked in the box. The latter controlled the ball well, but shot meekly into the waiting hands of EB goalkeeper Mukherjee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Five minutes later, goalkeeper Mukherjee brought off a spectacular save for his team. He dived full length to his right and fisted away a knee-high effort from the top of the box by Bagan linkman Dulal Biswas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Barretto had a hand in the Bagan match-winner which came three minutes from the final whistle. He neatly headed the ball forward in the box for Amar Ganguly. The Bagan striker beat a defender and then placed the ball past goalkeeper Mukherjee from handshaking distance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Source: </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/20010108/isp08052.html">http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/20010108/isp08052.html</a></span></span></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-42775357880996821892013-11-25T02:58:00.003-08:002013-11-25T02:58:59.942-08:00Mohun Bagan 0-1 East Bengal I-League 2013-14 1st Leg<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>24 Nov 2013, Calcutta:</b> If practice makes a man perfect, it has already earned Lalrindika Ralte something close to perfection as far as taking long-rangers are concerned.</div>
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Ralte’s superb 30-yard left-footer at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Sunday, did not only light up East Bengal’s I-League campaign, it lit up thousands of faces with the brightness that’s unique to this part of the world… The glow of happiness that one can find in the faces of victorious team’s fans after a city Derby was for the Kingfisher East Bengal fans to cherish on the day. Thanks to Ralte, thanks to his world-class goal.</div>
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Ralte makes sure he practises taking long-rangers on a regular basis. That his hard work didn’t go in vain was proved, once again, on Sunday as East Bengal emerged 1-0 winners over arch-rivals McDowell Mohun Bagan in the season’s first Derby.</div>
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One may say that the strike was very much against the run of play and not often do such long-range efforts find the desired target in Indian football. But if it’s Ralte, you better believe that the youngster is an exception. He deserves all the credit for coming up with an extraordinary piece of work in such a pressure-cooker situation.</div>
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So, precisely, Ralte’s 73rd-minute stunner was what separated the two teams on the day.</div>
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Till the goal, it was Mohun Bagan who looked the better of the two sides, even if marginally, as they focused on playing within their limitations.</div>
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But as Denson Devadas delayed in going for a tackle, which could have won him the ball back from Ralte, little did the Bagan midfielder realise what would follow.</div>
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Ralte was a good 30 yards away from the target when Harmanjot Singh Khabra set him up for a crack. Banking on his instincts, the 21-year-old unleashed a pile-driver that bulged into the net as Bagan ’keeper Shilton Paul’s desperate drive bore no fruit.</div>
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In other words, Shilton, who did a fairly decent job under the bar, stood dumbfounded, as did the rest of his teammates and thousands of Bagan fans. The red-and-gold supporters, as expected, were delirious.</div>
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Prior to that unbelievable strike, things weren’t looking that good for East Bengal. Bagan’s ace striker Okolie Odafe was beginning to look dangerous, while East Bengal captain Mehtab Hussain injured his knee trying to check the former. Mehtab had to be carried off the field.</div>
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But Ralte stood up and ensured the occasion belonged to East Bengal. Not only the players, officials and fans, the victory meant a lot for new coach Armando Colaco as well. His spontaneous celebration after the match left no one in any doubt about that.</div>
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As for Bagan, they will certainly be disappointed with the loss. Coach Karim Bencharifa, though, has some positives to take home. Topping the list is the performance of side-backs Pritam Kotal and Shouvik Ghosh, as both of them did a decent enough job.</div>
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Pritam even went on the overlap once and sent in a wonderful floater for Odafe 15 minutes after the breather. To be fair, the Bagan defence, despite the absence of Aniyichie Echezona, looked more organised than that of East Bengal.</div>
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They were efficient enough to make sure the crosses from the rival players got cleared or didn’t fall in place. Central defenders Aiborlang Khongjee and Rowilson Rodrigues played their part in keeping Edeh Chidi at bay, as Colaco’s treasured passing football appeared to be going for a toss.</div>
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Bagan could have taken the lead as early as the sixth minute when Odafe, operating from a little deep, set Eric Muranda up with a superb through ball. An advancing Abhijit, however, rescued his team with a brilliant save.</div>
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The East Bengal defence looked shaky for most parts of the match and Odafe, moving up in the second session, came perilously close to breaking the deadlock. After Uga Okpara lost the ball, Odafe did brilliantly to evade Arnab Mondal and Mehtab. But again, his attempt from such a close range failed to beat Abhijit.</div>
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It wasn’t Bagan’s day. It was East Bengal’s… It was Ralte’s.</div>
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Marcos Falopa wasn’t around for a comment, but one would have certainly liked to hear his views after Sunday’s Derby hero Lalrindika Ralte credited former East Bengal coach Trevor James Morgan for instilling in him the confidence of taking long-rangers.</div>
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This was new coach Armando Colaco’s first match with East Bengal, so he wouldn’t mind Ralte doffing his hat to Morgan. It’s a fact that Falopa, during his stint, never really enjoyed any reference to Morgan.</div>
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“I dedicate the goal to my family and my girlfriend… I also want to credit Morgan as he was the one who gave me the confidence and encouraged me to take long-rangers. I really blossomed under him and I thank him for that,” Ralte said after his 30-yard left-footer made all the difference in East Bengal’s 1-0 win over Mohun Bagan.</div>
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Ralte’s love for long-rangers is no secret. He once again stressed on the hard work that goes behind his successful long-rangers. “I love scoring from long-rangers… I have to work really hard during practice to attain perfection. Every day, after the training session, I practise them for some 20-odd minutes,” he said.</div>
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An East Bengal-Mohun Bagan Derby is always special. Any player who scores in one, especially in a winning cause, is elated. Ralte was no different. “Scoring for the first time in a Derby is always special… It just feels awesome to score in front of 80,000 people. It’s the best goal of my career so far… Better than the one I scored in the AFC Cup.”</div>
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East Bengal’s Japanese recruit Ryuji Sueoka, though, wasn’t too surprised with Ralte’s strike. “Of course, it was a terrific goal… But I’m not surprised as I’ve seen Lalrindika scoring these types of goals quite often in the past. He’s very much capable of getting them consistently,” Sueoka said.</div>
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Coach Armando Colaco, who admitted that the Calcutta Derby is a different experience altogether, feels Ralte could be far more dangerous if he uses his right leg.</div>
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“Lalrindika has a powerful left-footer, no doubt about it. That made the difference today. But he hardly uses his right-leg. In any case, he plays at a very difficult position in the left wing. With a little bit of correction, he can become an even better player,” the seasoned coach said.</div>
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Colaco’s counterpart, Karim Bencharifa, too, lauded Ralte’s strike. “I must say that was an out-of-the-world goal… Truly, a special one that took the game away from us,” he said.</div>
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But Falopa, who has returned to Brazil, wouldn’t be completely disappointed. True, Ralte didn’t remember him. But Colaco did. As promised, Colaco dedicated the Derby win to the Brazilian. “I dedicate this win to Falopa… I’ll give him a call soon as he had wished me whole-heartedly for this match.”</div>
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Amidst all the jubilation, captain Mehtab Hussain’s injury will leave a few creases on Colaco’s forehead. East Bengal’s next match is on Thursday, against United SC.</div>
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“It might take three to four days to recover from this knee injury. Let’s see what happens,” was all Mehtab could say.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase;">TEAMS</span></div>
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<b>East Bengal: </b>Abhijit Mondal, Naoba Singh, Arnab Mondal, Uga Okpara, Saumik Dey, Cavin Lobo (James Moga 65), Mehtab Hossein (Shylo Malsawamtluanga 73), Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Lalrindika Ralte, Chidi Edeh, Ryuji Sueoka (Gurwinder Singh 91).</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan: </b>Shilton Paul, Pritam Kotal, Aiborlang Khongjee, Rowilson Rodrigues (Manish Bhargav 92), Souvik Ghosh, Denson Devadas, Katsumi Yusa, CS Sabeeth (Ram Malik 64), Eric Muranda (Shankar Oraon 83), Okolie Odafe.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>Pratap Singh</div>
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<b>MoM: </b>Lalrindika Ralte</div>
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<b>Match Videos</b>:</div>
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<b>Source</b>: <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131125/jsp/sports/story_17609230.jsp#.UpMEu8RplhI" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131125/jsp/sports/story_17609230.jsp#.UpMEu8RplhI</span></a></div>
</div>Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-52269347282700803302013-10-06T02:42:00.001-07:002013-10-15T18:43:25.647-07:00East Bengal 1-0 Mohun Bagan :Mcdowell Cup Final 2000<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>10 July 2000, Calcutta:</b></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">A comedy of errors crowned the concluding edition
of the McDowell Cup as East Bengal committed less of them to edge Mohun Bagan
1-0 in today’s final at Salt Lake Stadium.</span><br />
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The tale of blunders started in the first minute — when East
Bengal squandered one of the few chances they eventually created — and left the
40,000 spectators bemused, with the Mohun Bagan defence producing what was
perhaps its worst performance in recent ‘big’ matches.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As if to reciprocate all the false moves and inaccurate passes,
referee Supriya Bhattacharjee had a rather forgettable day in office and must
have thanked his stars for not letting things veer out of control.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anit Ghosh got the goal at the stroke of half time with some
significant help from the rival defenders. The green-and-maroon men were mere
spectators when Dipendu Biswas tried to break into the box with Srikanta Dutta
for company.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They failed, without being challenged, and Anit picked up the ball
just outside the box and everybody assumed the ball would be relayed back to
Dipendu. Instead, Anit cracked a low left-footer which whistled past goalkeeper
Bivash Ghosh. The shot was powerful but the goalkeeper didn’t even dive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Srikanta was a central character in the tale of misdeeds and two
of his adventures stood out for complete lack of common-sense. The striker
picked up a rare clever through from Carlton Chapman in the 64th minute and had
just the ’keeper to beat from about ten yards but his feeble left-footer
crawled into the lap of Bivash.<o:p></o:p></div>
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His selfish approach cost East Bengal a goal seven minutes later
when he refused to pass the ball to Dipendu only to be dispossessed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Mohun Bagan defenders looked insipid and though there was not
much pressure let in several balls despite maintaining numerical superiority in
the defensive zone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stopper-backs Shib Shankar Santra and M. Suresh formed a clumsy
pair and striker Joao Dos Santos was seen clearing the ball from where
left-back would normally stand even in the dying stages.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Their mid-field play was non-existent and there was absolutely no
supply for Santos and Jose Ramirez Barreto. James Singh and R.C. Prakash were
hardly visible and defensive medios Debjit Ghosh and Dulal Biswas, especially the
former, lost possession whenever a move was brewing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They were ably complemented by the East Bengal mid-fielders who
played a slew of wrong passes and looked desperate to defend the lead right
after the interval.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The supervision was nightmarish with East Bengal’s Jackson
Egygopong getting away with several rough tackles after being booked and
Srikanta was shown just a yellow card for an unnecessary, off-the-ball push on
Bivash.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The height of it was witnessed midway into the second half when
Dipendu fell near the centre circle. He stayed like that for some time as the
ball travelled to distant corners of the turf with the referee, amazingly,
positioned near the injured player. He could have either ignored the player and
stayed near the ball or stopped play to pay attention to the extent of the
injury but did neither.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dipendu’s individual brilliance and
initiative and the tussle between Dipak Mondal and Barreto were the only gains
from the lacklustre show and the defender impressed all with his water-tight
marking. Barreto was never allowed to turn or dribble and saw teammates losing
possession on the couple of occasions he managed to do so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Mohun Bagan coach Subrata
Bhattacharya blamed the referee and his defenders for today’s McDowell Cup
final defeat against East Bengal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
At the centre of the coach’s ire was the official. But he was not
as harsh on his defenders. “Yes, our defenders played below expectations but we
kept East Bengal under pressure.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
He said his team was denied a penalty and numerous fouls on his
Brazilian forwards Joao Dos Santos and Jose Ramirez Barreto were overlooked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
East Bengal coach Syed Nayeemuddin said he
was happy with the performance because it won them the trophy. Otherwise, he
added with a grin, he would give the team 15 out of 100! <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1000711/sports.htm#head2" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1000711/sports.htm#head2</span></a></div>
</div>
Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-43980081203093954552013-10-06T02:39:00.001-07:002013-10-15T18:46:36.692-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 1st Leg 2000-01<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>29 July 2000, Calcutta:</b></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">The match was evenly fought, the score even. A crowd of
70,000 watched as Mohun Bagan and East Bengal drew their first encounter in the
Super Division League 1-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium today.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
East
Bengal started with repeated raids on the opposition goal and went ahead
through Carlton Chapman in the ninth minute. Jose Ramirez Barreto converted a
direct free-kick in the 35th to bring Mohun Bagan back in the match.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
East
Bengal used the left flank frequently in the first half with Dipendu Biswas
being the centre of all moves. He made some good crosses and played an
important role in Chapman’s goal. Dipankar started the move, found Dipendu on
the left who guarded the ball, swerved around Sumit Sengupta and centred it for
Chapman.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The
East Bengal skipper came unmarked down the right and scored with a blazing
right-footer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
At
the other end, Barreto was marked very closely by Dipak Mondal who gave the
Brazilian little room. But Barreto’s efforts to free himself resulted in
consecutive free-kicks. While a collective effort by Sammy Omollo and Barreto
failed in the first instance, there was no stopping the latter in the second.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Barreto
earned a free-kick when Jackson Egygpong fouled him a few yards outside the
penalty box. He unleashed an in-swinging curler, placing it sweetly at the
corner of the goal which gave the goalkeeper little time to react. The players
forming the ‘wall’ too looked mystified as Barreto’s right-footed shot sailed
above them. The goal came so suddenly that the crowd took sometime to react and
for the first time the Mohun Bagan supporters found their voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Meanwhile,
Dipendu continued his runs but each of them proved fruitless. Dipankar Roy
missed the easiest of them when his wild right-footer, from 15 yards, sailed
way above the goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Off
a counter-attack, Barreto masterminded a beautiful move after evading a number
of defenders and found James Singh at a very good position. But James hit a
wild shot which went nowhere near the goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The
move, though, did not materialise into a goal but Mohun Bagan were just about
starting to dominate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
They
began the second half from where they left in the first. Barreto was now
operating from the deep. The East Bengal goalkeeper did not make life any easier
for his teammates as he failed to cleanly collect the ball on a number of
occasions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
From
a set-piece move which started with R.C. Prakash, Santos hit a good
right-footer that hit the bar and fell in front of Shanti Majumdar. The
custodian did everything but hold on to the ball but fortunately for him, none
of the Mohun Bagan players were in a position to capitalise.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
East
Bengal made two substitutions at this point, which changed the course of the
match. Sheikh Sanjib came in for Srikanta Dutta and Tushar Rakshit replaced
Anit Ghosh. From then on, East Bengal made good use of their right flank with
Sanjib making a few charges at the opposition’s defence. Rakshit broke Bagan’s
hold on the game and added new vigour to the midfield.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
East
Bengal coach, Syed Nayeemuddin, also mentioned the two substitutes as the only
gains from the game.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
In
the dying moments, James took a corner and almost scored. The ball hit the post
and was finally cleared by Chapman.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Both
teams showed equal desperation and at one instance play continued for minutes
with Dipendu lying on the ground injured. It is a different matter altogether
that Dipendu returned immediately after being stretchered out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Mohun Bagan’s defence, after quite some time, looked strong
and the credit can be granted to the return of Sammy Omollo who was unbeatable
in the air and clean on the ground. The only drawback in their game was the
appalling standard of the use of dead-ball situations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;">Source : </span><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1000730/sports.htm#head2"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1000730/sports.htm#head2</span></a></div>
</div>
Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-56553859924041605002013-10-06T02:37:00.003-07:002013-10-15T18:51:11.466-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2nd Leg 2000-01<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white;">
<b>2 Sept 2000, Calcutta:</b> The traditional paper torches lit up the early evening sky
as a 1-1 stalemate extinguished Mohun Bagan’s hopes of stopping East Bengal
from posting a hattrick of Super Division League triumphs.<br />
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Mohun Bagan’s Jose Ramirez Barreto neutralised Sur Kumar
Singh’s 24th-minute strike in the 54th but the result kept East Bengal five
points ahead of their arch rivals. With a three-point gap between the top-two
being enough to do away with a championship play-off final, East Bengal (35
points) emerged champions for the 27th time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Needing nothing short of a win to keep alive chances of
bagging their 25th title, Mohun Bagan did show the urgency in the early stages.
Choosing to go in without a defensive midfielder, Mohun Bagan succeeded in
taking early control of that zone and started operating at a brisk pace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
They even put one into the goal in the third minute but
that R.C. Praksh effort, off a Basudeb Mondal corner, was disallowed because of
an infringement. The early charge rattled East Bengal and the credit for the
fact that they did stage a comeback must go to Chandan Das.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Spotting the huge open spaces in the rival-half caused by
their movement upwards, Chandan started probing the empty pockets with some
accurate long passes, most of which were essayed from well inside his own half.
He also made sure that both flanks remained active and played a key role in the
goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Chandan’s 30-yard freekick found Carlton Chapman down the
left, who, on entering the box floated one towards the far post. Right-back Sur
Kumar stole in unnoticed and unchallenged, his header keeping the custodian
rooted to the spot. The aerial crosses were accurate and the header well-placed
but the liberty Sur Kumar enjoyed well inside the rival box was inexplicable.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Chandan continued essaying the long-rangers and most of
them found either Dipendu Biswas or Sheikh Sanjib who seemed to lack the last
and decisive touch. At least three of them split open the rival defence and
should have been converted. Chandan also tried a few long-rangers one of which
had to be tipped over by a diving ’keeper.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The goal took the sting out of Mohun Bagan and their coach
must also take a fair share of the blame for a substitution that defied logic.
Replacing Satyajit Chatterjee with Joao Dos Santos right after the goal,
Subrata Bhattacharya took off a principal source of all the able passes. The
veteran was looking charged up and a few good prompts for Barreto had class
written all over.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
This move ensured that Mohun Bagan lost a creative mind in
the midfield and Santos, not for the first time, looked puzzled and ran around
aimlessly, unsure of his role. Things turned better in the second half when he
was pushed forward with Barreto falling back a bit. But the damage had already
been done once Satyajit was taken off and Mohun Bagan lost control soon after.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Mohun Bagan started the second half with renewed vigour and
equalised soon after. Barreto once again played the lead as he released Rennedy
down the left with a deft flick of the boot and the India medio sent in a deep
centre which floated accross the goalmouth, tempting the goalkeeper to have a
go at it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The ’keeper missed the flight as Prakash headed it back for
Barreto who nodded in his eighth goal of the League. It put him jointly on top
of the list alongside Prakash.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Barring the goal, the Brazilian was not at his best and
this significantly affected their chances. The disorganised display after the
goal bore testimony to that as they failed to take advantage of a few crucial
errors committed by the normally reliable Jackson Egygpong.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Being showered with praise after the
completion of the Super Division Derby, the East Bengal coach said he wants to
savour the triumph for some time before planning for the future. His Mohun
Bagan counterpart, however, blamed the referee for today’s 1-1 draw.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The
result was enough for Syed Nayeemuddin’s men to seal the title and the coach
praised the club officials for giving him a free hand. “My association with
East Bengal brings back special memories as I got the Arjuna and Dronacharya
Awards while being with this club,” he said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Nayeem,
not known for identifying individuals for special praise, said Sur Kumar Singh,
Chandan Das, Sangram Mukherjee and Dipak Mondal were the finds of the season.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The
East Bengal crowd’s hero of the day, scorer Sur Kumar, said he was enjoying his
new role as right-back though a more central role is what he is more used to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
“Yeah,
overlapping is new to me, I learnt the nuances from our coah here,” said the
20-year-old from Khurkhul, a place 16 kms away from Manipur.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
This
is his first season with a club after having graduated from the Tata Football
Academy this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The
Mohun Bagan coach said his team was denied at least three penalties and blamed
the referee for not being able to force a win. He also said that R.C. Prakash’s
third-minute goal, disallowed for a foul, was proper.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
“Such
referees should be suspended. His decisions affected our boys’ confidence and
that is the reason why we couldn’t win,” said Subrata Bhattacharya.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Subrata
even said that East Bengal will not be able to do well in matches outside
Calcutta as they won’t be getting such “assistance” from the officials.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
About
the game, he defended his move of replacing Satyajit Chatterjee with Joao Dos
Santos, saying he needed more men up front. He also stood by his defenders who
stood mere spectators when East Bengal scored.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
“They
were undone by the number of wrong verdicts. I don’t blame them. Also, it would
have been a different story had our third-minute goal been upheld,”
Bhattacharya said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
According to club officials, Mohun Bagan may lodge a formal
protest against the referee. They added that Mohun Bagan may not take part in
the upcoming IFA Shield if their matches are not conducted by outstation
officials.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
“This is not regarding our matches against East Bengal but
applies to other games as well,” said an official.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<h3 style="background-color: white;">
TEAMS</h3>
<b style="background-color: white;">EAST BENGAL:</b><span style="background-color: white;"> Sangram Mukherjee; Sur Kumar Singh, Dipak Mondal, Jackson Egygpong, Ratan Singh; Carlton Chapman (Dipankar Roy, 68), Ayoyemi Isiaka, Anit Ghosh (Tushar Rakshit, 58), Chandan Das; Dipendu Biswas, Sheikh Sanjib (Trijit Das, 29).</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white;">
<b>MOHUN BAGAN:</b> Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Dulal Biswas, Debjit Ghosh, M. Suresh, Lolendro Singh; Basudeb Mondal (Hussain Mustafi, 81), R.P. Singh, Satyajit Chatterjee (Joao Dos Santos, 26), Rennedy Singh; R.C. Prakash, Jose Ramirez Barreto.</div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<b>Referee:</b> Udayan Haldar.</div>
</div>
Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-13621210542619473172013-10-06T02:34:00.002-07:002013-10-15T18:51:41.640-07:00East Bengal 1-1(5-2) Mohun Bagan : IFA Shield Final 2000<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>16 Sept 2000, Calcutta:</b> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amar Ganguly has had to
live in the shadows of Mohun Bagan’s star strikers this season. Today, he
squandered his chance for a place in the sun.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Banished to the bench on
most occasions, Ganguly, a second-half substitute at today’s IFA Shield final,
was tantalisingly close to what would have been the the ‘golden goal’ when he
faltered. As he sat clutching his head in disbelief, the scene somehow summed
up Mohun Bagan’s story at the Salt Lake Stadium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A story of missed
opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">East Bengal escaped to
victory, winning the tie-breaker hands down to complete a ‘triple crown’ of
local titles after triumphs in the McDowell Cup and Super Division League.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a fascinating match
of fluctuating fortunes, it was East Bengal who drew first blood, Chandan Das
finding the mark from a 26th-minute breakaway. Jose Barreto brought parity for
the green-and maroon brigade with a classy strike 38 minutes into the second
session.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then, after more
misses, the game spilled into the penalty shootout that went all wrong for
Mohun Bagan — from the first kick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The result will be a
real heartbreak for Mohun Bagan, for they have rarely dominated their
arch-rivals in the manner they did today. They will, of course, have been
rudely reminded that, in the end, it’s not just about creating opportunities
but scoring from them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The midfield was always
going to be the key area, and Mohun bagan took control from the onset. However,
even as they pressed forward, East Bengal always seemed to catch them on the
wrong foot with quick breakways. One of these produced the first goal, though
Amitava Chanda could take a great deal of blame for some clumsy defending.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">When the ball ran loose
towards Chanda and Suley Musah in a 50-50 situation, the Mohun Bagan left-back,
the last defender on this occasion, made the cardinal mistake of going for an
all out tackle. Once he failed, Musah was left with all the space he needed.His
cross found Chandan, whose prompt shot at goal went in off the left post. Bagan
turned the heat on from there, but were thwarted time and again by goalkeeper
Sangram Mukherjee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The 20-year-old TFA blue
had a dream day, rising every time his team faced danger. It looked as if
nothing could beat the boy from Kanchrapara, till the brilliance of Barreto
bailed Mohun Bagan out yet again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The crafty Brazilian,
who found very little support upfront, showed his class when R.C. Prakash sent
in a cross. Barreto shut out Sur Kumar Singh with his body even as he sent his
side-volley past the hapless goalkeeper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sur Kumar, after getting
into a few elbow-pushing bouts with the Brazilian, had to leave the pitch six
minutes before the end after his second booking of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Barreto did little
wrong, though he did mess up a chance to get the ‘golden goal’. Prakash was to
find the crosspiece minutes later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">East Bengal too got
their chances, most of them from breakaways down right, but they may well want
to dedicate this victory to their spirit. The ability to hang on, and deliver
the knockout punch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">THE SHOOTOUT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">East Bengal opens with
Chandan Das sending the goalkeeper the wrong way on the left. (1-0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sammy Omollo’s push
along the carpet to the goalkeeper’s left is saved by the diving Sangram. (1-0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Musah beats a diving
Sandip on his right. (2-0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dulal Biswas tries to
blast his shot in but it comes to grief on the crosspiece. Mohun Bagan is now
in real trouble. (2-0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ratan Singh, the
‘left-footer’, fools Sandip with a right-footer that goes past the goalie’s
right. (3-0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Satyajit Chatterjee, the
‘pro’ shows his mates how it’s done by coolly slotting to the left of Sangram.
(3-1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sandip needs to save this one to keep Mohun Bagan afloat, but
Dipendu gives him no chance with a nice placement. (4-1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">TEAMS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">EAST
BENGAL: </span></b><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sangram
Mukherjee; Sur Kumar Singh, Dipak Mondal, Jackson Egygpong, Ratan Singh; Suley
Musah, Carlton Chapman (Tushar Rakshit 51st, Ranjan Dey 103rd), Chandan Das,
Dipankar Roy (Anit Ghosh 88th); Dipendu Biswas, Bijen Singh.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">MOHUN BAGAN:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Sandip Nandy; Dulal Biswas, Sammy Omollo,
M. Suresh (Joao Santos 36th, Amar Ganguly 82nd), Amitava Chanda; Debjit Ghosh;
Basudeb Mondal, R.P. Singh (Hussain Mustafi 71st), Satyajit Chatterjee; Jose
Ramirez Barreto, R.C. Prakash.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Referee: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">S. M. Balu (Karnataka)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1000917/sports.htm#head5"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1000917/sports.htm#head5</span></a></div>
Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-13601945772335537262013-10-06T02:16:00.005-07:002013-10-06T02:17:57.256-07:00East Bengal 1-0 Mohun Bagan : National Football League 1st Leg 2000-01<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>17 Feb 2001, Calcutta:</b> East Bengal leapfrogged to the top of the National Football League table. And Mohun Bagan did everything apart from scoring even after creating several chances to suffer a 0-1 defeat against their biggest rivals at Salt Lake Stadium today.</div>
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East Bengal are now on top of the table with 16 points from seven games. Mohun Bagan have 14, also from seven outings.</div>
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The all-important goal came in the 47th minute when Omolaja Olalekan scored after a blunder from Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Kalyan Chowbey left him with no other option.</div>
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It happened at the very beginning of the second half. A Dipankar Roy lob from the deep, on the way deflected first by Dipendu Biswas and then by Mohun Bagan’s M. Suresh, fell into Omolaja’s way.</div>
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The goalkeeper came out of his line to collect the ball with sufficient help from defender Amouri da Silva, who shielded it from Omolaja till he was sure that the goalkeeper had things under control. Even Chowbey seemed to be sure of himself and yet let it slip out of his grip. The Nigerian, as if embarrassed by Chowbey’s error, shyly tapped the ball in with his right foot.</div>
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Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya made a few unexpected changes in his team. Unfortunately, none of them worked. The decision to play Chowbey, with Bivas Ghosh and Rajat Ghosh Dastidar available, was baffling. This move proved to be fatal and Chowbey, who last played against Tollygunge Agragami on December 18, did not rise to the occasion.</div>
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The coach at the end of the match justified his decision. “I chose him because his outings are good,” he reasoned. It’s a different matter altogether, that Chowbey’s “outing” proved to be his and his team’s downfall.</div>
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Bagan also started with Amitava Chanda playing as right-back. Chanda, not really a regular in the team, could not get into the rhythm of the game and had to be replaced by James Singh as early as in the 24th minute. Dulal Biswas, starting in midfield, fell back. The tactical decision taken by Subrata to start with two defensive midfielders, when Bagan’s strength is their attacking midfield could not be however justified. Basudeb Mondal’s presence from the beginning may have made a difference.</div>
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The first half was a sedate affair, with both sides creating few chances. In the 17th minute, East Bengal’s Ghanaian recruit Suley Musah took the first shot of the match. A stinging right-footer had Chowbey stretch for probably the only vital save he made today.</div>
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Mohun Bagan’s defence was also not totally in control of the game. In the 33rd minute, Dipendu and Dipankar were left unmarked in front of the opponent’s citadel. But fortunately for Mohun Bagan, the East Bengal marksmen could not take advantage.</div>
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After scoring the goal, East Bengal completely lost their composure for sometime and Mohun Bagan made repeated attacks, but only till the goalmouth. In the 51st minute, two consecutive shots from well inside the penalty box, first by James and then by Dulal Biswas, were both hit at goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee.</div>
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Again in the 59th, a header from Jose Ramirez Barreto found James in front with only the goalkeeper to beat. But before James could take his shot properly, Sangram came charging and the ball went wide of the target. James should have scored from the position he was in but then the miss summarised Mohun Bagan’s inability to convert their chances today.</div>
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Barreto, who was not very effective in the first half, was in his elements in the second. However, there was never adequate support from his teammates. Mohun Bagan did put the ball into the net in the 78th minute but only after the whistle had been blown for an infringement on the goalkeeper by Barreto.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: white;">
TEAMS</h3>
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<b>EAST BENGAL: </b>Sangram Mukherjee; Suley Musah, Jackson Egygpong, Dipak Mondal, Ratan Singh; Carlton Chapman (Sur Kumar Singh, 37th), Anit Ghosh (Ranjan Dey, 79th), Chandan Das; Dipankar Roy, Dipendu Biswas (Bijen Singh, 60th), Omolaja Olalekan.</div>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN: </b>Kalyan Chowbey; Amitava Chanda (James Singh 24th, Amar Ganguly, 62nd), Amouri Da Silva, M. Suresh, Lolendra Singh; Dulal Biswas, R.P. Singh, Debjit Ghosh, Rennedy Singh (Basudeb Mondal, 52nd); Jose Ramirez Barreto, R.C. Prakash.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>S.M. Balu.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1010218/sports.htm#head1" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1010218/sports.htm#head1</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-65907606096106638062013-10-06T02:08:00.002-07:002013-10-06T02:08:43.077-07:00Mohun Bagan 0-0 East Bengal : National Football League 2nd Leg 2000-01<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>10 April 2001, Calcutta:</b> The frontrunners in the fifth National Football League stay that way, the lead remaining at three points. Twice champions Mohun Bagan, barring a miracle, will have to concentrate on securing the runners-up slot.</div>
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That was the outcome of the insipid, goalless tussle that the two premier teams of the country engaged in at the Salt Lake Stadium this afternoon.</div>
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Nobody in the 50,000-odd turnout expected good football. They did not get any. However, on a hot, humid afternoon East Bengal spent a great deal of energy in early attacks, and though they fell back a good deal in the second half, a lack of feed and understanding in the Bagan attack line prevented the holders from wresting the initiative.</div>
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Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya had probably not made calculations for the surge of East Bengal attacks that came off the kick-off. He had probably expected a more tentative start, a decent option in any of these tension-prone ‘big’ matches.</div>
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Dipendu Biswas probably tried to dispel the general fear of his loss of form with some unusual exuberance, so to say. Had such initiatives been accompanied by some activity of the grey cells, things would have been better for the red-gold title aspirants.</div>
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Early worries were in the Bagan defence being breached too often. It was not just that the defence was under pressure, it was the cascading effect of the absence of any player of the calibre of Basudeb Mondal in the half line that allowed infiltrators through. Basudeb sat the match out with two bookings, and the Bagan half line looked creaky weak.</div>
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The first real danger came in the eighth minute when a 25-yard pile-driver off Chandan Das came off the Bagan crosspiece. Five minutes later, Suley Musah pushed into the Bagan box, dribbled past two defenders, but failed to keep his head in the end and let go a weak grounder that ’keeper Bivash Ghosh collected easily.</div>
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What was happening with the Bagan attack? The generally dependable Brazilian, Jose Ramierz Barreto, was feeling lonely, if not for the company of three-four East Bengal defenders always on his back. There was little feed towards this striker, and less towards Bangladeshi Alfaz Ahmed. Alfaz himself was instrumental in a couple of breakthroughs, but enjoyed no understanding with Barreto.</div>
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James Singh did advance to help out, and that was the only source of balls for the two upfront.</div>
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The policing on Barreto was a foregone conclusion. What the Bagan coach surely should have done was decide on a dummy alternative that could have taken the policemen off Barreto or decide on an alternative source of attack altogether.</div>
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The first proper Bagan move came in the 25th minute when Alfaz moved up the left and into the box. He let go an excellent centre across the goalmouth, an offering that needed one touch from any boot. There was, however, no takers from Bagan.</div>
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The refereeing was as mediocre as the match. In the 36th minute Bivash stretched to collect off an East Bengal offensive, but Dipendu, following up, slided into him. That was definitely a card-worthy foul that referee K. Sankar of Tamil Nadu decided to ignore.</div>
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By the second half, East Bengal’s enthusiasm, with its energy level, had subsided to acceptable levels. That was when Bagan managed to lope into the rival defensive third with some wingplay via James. In the 47th minute a James shot from inside the box was tipped over by Sangram Mukherjee who had a good day under the bar.</div>
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At the other end Lolendra Singh failed to outpace Dipendu, but the latter shot out in haste. But the heat and humidity was getting to the players and the pace was slackening. There was a lapse in concentration too.</div>
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That resulted in a near goal in the 57th minute when Lolendra, off a Naushad Pari pass on the left, shot at goal. The ball took a sudden deflection off Chanchal Bhattacharya’s legs and headed straight to goal. Sangram dived at the last moment to effect a fine save.</div>
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By that time, East Bengal had decided it would be a draw and were playing for it. More men were pressed into defence, with counterattacks being kept the vehicle for releasing the rising pressure.</div>
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In the midst, the refereeing fiasco again came to the fore when Bivash was collecting off an East Bengal attack. The ’keeper had bent down to collect and did not notice Dipankar Roy charging in. The latter put spike on Bivash’s back and climbed, before going down on the other side, pulling down the ’keeper with him. Again, there was no booking.</div>
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Much scrappy action signed off the match, keeping Mohun Bagan groping still.</div>
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Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya believes his “broken” team has been able to put up a good enough performance versus a “full compliment” East Bengal today.</div>
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He promised that he would fight “till the end” and that until the last match was played, there would be no way East Bengal coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya would be allowed a good night’s sleep.</div>
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Manoranjan agreed that it was a “big hurdle” that his team took care of at the Salt Lake Stadium today but said: “This is no reason to relax. The National League has not been won yet, and that is the big responsibility that remains.”</div>
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Manoranjan’s big worry is over three of his key players — Isiaka Awoyemi, goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee and medio Carlton Chapman. All received their second bookings today, and will be absent from the team in the next match versus Vasco in Goa on April 18.</div>
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“That will be a problem,” he agreed. “These are the small things that I mean when I say the league isn’t over yet.”</div>
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East Bengal have also to play State Bank of Travancore and FC Kochin.</div>
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He said his worry was to keep the Bagan midfield in a straightjacket. He believed that it was the Bagan strength, despite the absence of Basudeb Mondal. “I did manage that,” he said.</div>
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“The way my players performed today, I am happy. There is no question of any moral victory. It was a strategic game, and we treated it as such.”</div>
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He said he took a chance in fielding Chanchal Bhattacharya because “he has developed a good understanding with Jackson Egygopong and has big match experience”.</div>
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Subrata said he is going to wait. He said he has liked the way Bangladeshi recruit Alfaz Ahmed has performed and that there was enough scope yet to catch up and beat their rivals.</div>
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“Last time we had won with a number of matches to go. It will not happen this time. That’s it,” said the optimist.</div>
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He said that his boys could have got the issue sealed today itself had they been able to translate their second half domination into goals.</div>
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“You must consider the fact that we fought well with a broken team versus a near full strength East Bengal. That’s a good outcome.”</div>
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Mohun Bagan have a tough match, versus Salgaocar of Goa in Calcutta on April 20, and Subrata is diverting his attention to this now.</div>
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He has another Bangladeshi, Md Nakib, waiting in the wings.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: white;">
TEAMS</h3>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN: </b>Bivash Ghosh; Dulal Biswas, Amouri, Hussein Mustafi, Lolendra Singh; James Singh, Jayanta Sen, Debjit Ghosh, M. Suresh (Naushad Pari, 56); Alfaz Ahmed, Jose Ramirez Barreto.</div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL: </b>Sangram Mukherjee; Suley Musah, Jackson Egygopong, Chanchal Bhattacharya (Ranjan Dey, 68), Falguni Dutta; Carlton Chapman (Hamza Zaheer Abbas, 61), Isiaka Awoyemi, Chandan Das, Dipankar Roy; Dipendu Biswas, Omolaja Olalekan (Bijen Singh, 76).</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>K. Sankar (Tamil Nadu).</div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-50381959389759606122013-10-06T01:58:00.000-07:002013-10-06T01:58:02.417-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-0 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 1st Leg 2001-02<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>11 Aug 2001, Calcutta:</b> An afternoon of dull soccer, and an opportunistic second half strike by substitute James Singh. That sort of settled the Calcutta Football League’s Super Division leaders at the Salt Lake Stadium today.</div>
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Mohun Bagan are the undisputed leaders now, three points clear of nearest rivals Bhratri Sangha (18 points) and seven wholesome points ahead of East Bengal.</div>
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The ‘Derby’ match, as it was billed, turned out insipid. The stands were choc-a-bloc, after a long time, full of arrivals from way across the horizons and East Bengal had everything to play for.</div>
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That should have been incentive enough, and it was not as if East Bengal did not try. But there was this lack of understanding in the attack line, and then when the woodwork was there to whip in, there were misses. Talking of misses, Dipendu Biswas has made an interesting habit of it, as interesting as can comprise a ‘house of horrors’. Today he added more to his collection.</div>
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And I.M. Vijayan, English sojourn and all that incorporated, made for a rather pathetic passenger. At least East Bengal’s new Tanzanian recruit, Ally Amayay Tembele, did promise some decent soccer in the days to come. There could have been no argument for ground condition, which was not too good, because of a strong, smart shower just before the match.</div>
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East Bengal dominated the first half, and should have gone ahead easily had Dipendu not shot over from close in the 12th minute. He had been fed from the left by Vijayan on one of the latter’s few positive moves.</div>
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In the 30th minute Ally slid up quickly and set Dipankar Roy up who squared across the goalmouth. Dipendu was required to get a touch for the goal. He failed.</div>
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That’s when Jo Paul Ancheri was pulled out for Anit Ghosh. Ancheri is a laggard now, his injury has failed to heal, it seems, and he is a liability on the team.</div>
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East Bengal missed another chance, too, when Vijayan outstepped a free-kick out, from inside the box. This crazy free-kick was availed of when Mohun Bagan’s Rennedy Singh backpassed to Bivash Ghosh in the box and the goalkeeper collected.</div>
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Mohun Bagn looked a refreshed side after the change of ends. There, obviously was some hard talking in the deressing room. Their first half was sad, and one was not forgetting the third minute Jackson Egygopong shot from the top of the Bagan defensive third that had rolled in unattended through the line of defenders till Bivash Ghosh collected.</div>
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In the 55th minute there was this ugly scene in the Mohun Bagan defence zone, with Hussain Mustafi, Barreto, Dipendu, Bivash and more involved in a rough-up and semi-fisticuffs. It was a crude way of expressing oneself, and as referee Arup Chakraborty picked up his yellow card that had gone flying in the chaos, one expected a few more bookings. He did none.</div>
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Play was cooling off rapidly, dwindling towards a draw, when, in the 61st minute, Basudeb Mondal was up the left in a sudden counterattack. Mondal forwarded to Rennedy, who chipped to the goalmouth. James quickly chested it down and shot home. Ratan Singh was ahead, but failed to intercept.</div>
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East Bengal came back with all the pressure tactics, but it was late by then. The issue had been decided.</div>
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Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya came off the many congratulations that landed in his lap for his wards today beating East Bengal 1-0 in their CFL Super Division tie at the Salt Lake Stadium. He said he was confident of “not losing” once his wards were able to see off the first half.</div>
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“They (East Bengal) surely played better in the first half,” said Subrata, “but we caught up after change of ends and it was a good goal to score anyway.” He said the backpass incident was a “mistake”. “It was not an intentional backpass,” he said, “hence the penalty should not have been what it was.”</div>
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He also refused to say that the title was in his pocket. “There is no way I can say that, because there are a good many matches left. Anything can happen. I don’t believe in any comment before I’m 100 per cent.”</div>
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East Bengal coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya said Ratan Singh’s missing the flight of the ball from James Singh was a rare incident. “Such happens once in a hundred chances, and it did today.”</div>
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He, of course, said James Singh’s effort was commendable. Manoranjan’s did not seem too perturbed by this defeat. He said he was looking forward to the federation Cup and “no shadow of this defeat will be on that meet for East Bengal.”</div>
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While conceding that the seven-point difference was rather on the long side to be caught up with, Manorajan said that his team was getting into shape and he expects better understanding soon. He, made it clear that he was not satisfied with I.M. Vijayan. “He is not in form,” said the coach, cancelling all the English tour experience gathered by the player.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: white;">
TEAMS</h3>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN: </b>Bivash Ghosh, Dulal iswas, Amouri Da’Silva, Hussain Mustafi, Rishi Kapoor, Basudeb Mondal (Ajoy Singh, 84), Debjit Ghos, Renedy Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto, R.C. Prakash (Hjames Singh, 46), Abdulateef Seriki.</div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL: </b>Sangram Mukherjee, Falguni Dutta, Dipak Mondal, Jackson Egygopong, Ratan Singh, Awoemi Isiaka (Dipak Das, 66), Ally Mayay Tembele, Jo Paul Ancheri (Anit Ghosh, 34), Dipankar Roy (Amit Das, 68), Dipendu Biswas, I.M. Vijayan.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>Arup Chakraborty</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1010812/sports.htm#head3" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1010812/sports.htm#head3</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-46963776577678196922013-10-06T01:47:00.001-07:002013-10-06T01:47:16.022-07:00East Bengal 2-1 Mohun Bagan : IFA Shield Semifinal 2001<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>6 Oct 2001, Calcutta: </b>The result was no bolt-from-the-blue stuff. East Bengal dominated all of the first half and scored, Mohun Bagan came back in the second half and equalised, but the Bagan’s defensive weakness let the initiative through as East Bengal rode Jo Paul Ancheri’s double strike to the 107th IFA Shield final, Jose Ramirez Barreto’s reverse strike notwithstanding.</span><br />
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In the midst, there were scrappy events, Chandan Das of East Bengal being marched out for a dash on Barreto and the latter, too, for retaliating. By then, though, the issue had been settled, with the red-gold jerseyed brigade qualifying to play Palmeiras of Brazil in the final.</div>
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Early signs were not good for Mohun Bagan. Barreto was, also as expected, policed, mostly by Jackson Egygpong, but Suley Musah too put in his bit in the issue. That was one reason why he wasn’t mobile enough today, leaving the East Bengal right flank somewhat empty. This, though, was made up by the left flank and the middle working overtime, stretching the weak Bagan defence taut.</div>
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In the 11th minute, Dipankar Roy moved up the left and passed Amauri da Silva who generally presents an insipid challenge. Goalkeeper Bivash Ghosh was also up, but Roy’s pass reached Ancheri who drew it to the edge and managed a fine tap from acute angle, but the near upright came in the way.</div>
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The defensive weaknesses apart, the row of East Bengal offensives were to an extent also because of the lack of sting in the Bagan offensive. The absence of Abdulateef Seriki (who served a one-match match suspension) was sorely felt. His presence used to take a good deal of load off the Bagan defenders’ backs — in other words, it was a good nook to hide their deficiencies. The big culprit was, of course, Amauri.</div>
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In the 24th minute Omolaja’s pass reached Dipankar to the left of the box. Dipankar’s centre, quite like on the earlier occasion, was snapped up by Ancheri as Amauri advanced. The Brazilian stood clay-footed, and even collapsed in an Ancheri feint. That was easier for Ancheri than even Bivash, who was under the bar, but failed to react as the East Bengal striker’s left-footed grounder went in past the far post.</div>
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The next setback for Bagan was when Basudeb Mondal had to be pulled out by coach Subrata Bhattachaya. Basudeb, the playmaker, had a knee injury that needed attention. By then the East Bengal domination was clear. The attacks came fast and thick, and there were hardly any Bagan offensives except one in the 40th minute when R.C. Prakash failed to get the better of the still mushy surface at the East Bengal goalmouth and in an attempt to pass to a teammate, lost control and with it a great opportunity.</div>
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Bagan regrouped and came right back in the second half. Perhaps realising that the East Bengal domination was mostly in the head, they shook off the effect and in the fourth minute Prakash was again in striking distance. Goalkeeper Hemanta Dora was out of charge and it was a close affair, but Dipak Mondal appeared from nowhere to effect a goalline save. Isiaka Awoyemi missed one at the other end.</div>
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By then the match had become scrappy, and tempers were rising as a couple of bookings ensued. Bagan earned a flag-kick in the 20th minute of the second session and Rennedy’s shot reached Prakash at the goalmouth. Prakash’s deflection was patted back by Dora, but it was tardy and Barreto shot in from close. That was Barreto’s fifth goal in this championship.</div>
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Five minutes later East Bengal threw an offensive back as the Bagan defence thickened. Isiaka entered the box and following two more quick relays the ball reached Ancheri, who was standing with his back to the goal. Ancheri trapped well, made a half-turn and shot home an eloquent left-footer.</div>
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That was the end of Mohun Bagan, except that in the 87th minute the two players were marched out. It was a just decision, and none protested.</div>
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The day ended with a 35-yard volley by Mohun Bagan’s Dulal Biswas slipping off the crosspiece.</div>
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Mohun Bagan, of course, get a chance to redeem some pride Wednesday when the Calcutta League’s Super Division championship leg Derby comes off.</div>
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TEAMS</h3>
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<b>EAST BENGAL: </b>Hemanta Dora, Suley Musah, Jackson Egygpong, Dipak Mondal, Falguni Dutta, Isiaka Awoyemi, Tushar Rakshit (Chandan Das, 62), Anit Ghosh, Dipankar Roy (Bijen Singh, 74), Omolaja Olalekan (I.M. Vijayan, inury time), Jo Paul Ancheri.</div>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN: </b>Bivash Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Amauri da Silva, Hussain Mustafi, Rishi Kapoor, R.P. Singh (Sumit Sengupta, 82), Basudeb Mondal (Bungo Singh, 74), Jose Ramirez Barreto, Debjit Ghosh (Amar Ganguly, 46), Renedy Singh, R.C. Prakash.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>M.S. Balu (Karnataka)</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1011007/sports.htm#head1" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1011007/sports.htm#head1</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-51043643399968714112013-10-06T01:41:00.001-07:002013-10-06T01:41:02.530-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2nd Leg 2001-02<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>11 Oct 2001, Calcutta:</b> East Bengal today realised what it means to finish on the receiving end of a 1-1 scoreline — which helped Mohun Bagan retrieve Super Division honour.</div>
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The Salt Lake Stadium stalemate left Mohun Bagan with 34 points from 13 matches at the end of their campaign — enough to ensure their arch-rivals stayed at least three points adrift. East Bengal have 27 from 12 and a win against Tollygunge Agragami in their last match will not reduce arrears to the required extent.</div>
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It was revenge of sorts for Mohun Bagan, who forced an identical score in last year’s second-leg tie under similar circumstances, only to be denied a play-off final, following the same principle. This was their 25th triumph in the local league.</div>
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Early indications were different though, with East Bengal pressing hard for a win and stay in the hunt of a fourth successive title. They struck in the 15th minute through Omolaja Olalekan, but capsized soon as Mohun Bagan came back in waves.</div>
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Capping an excellent day with a goal seconds into the final session, Rennedy Singh emerged an unlikely hero and East Bengal were distinctly lucky to escape a spanking. East Bengal never managed another clear look at goal and must thank their stars for Mohun Bagan turning blind when they did so.</div>
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There was tension in the air, and the referee flashed yellow cards to three from each team. There was the odd blemish as well and Mohun Bagan’s Debjit Ghosh escaped punishment despite an act which could have spread trouble in the stands. He charged up at the referee for what he thought should have been a red card on Suley Musah for a foul on Rennedy.</div>
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Contrary to their coach’s match-eve apprehension that the venue was a “den of terror favouring East Bengal,” Mohun Bagan discovered terror lies actually at the heart of their defence. Right-back Dulal Biswas was easily beaten to Falguni Dutta’s through for Dipankar Roy down the right.</div>
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The medio sent in a backpass which caught the goalkeeper in a corridor of uncertainty. Before deciding whether to advance or stay put, the goalkeeper had walked out a few steps, but was still far from Omolaja who sent home a low first-time right-footer despite being hemmed in by the stoppers. It placed the Nigerian on top of the goal-scorers’ list with eight.</div>
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East Bengal tried to press home the advantage by introducing I.M. Vijayan in the 24th minute, but the striker looked woefully out of condition before making a tame exit 52 minutes later.</div>
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The goal stirred Mohun Bagan back in action and Rennedy cut loose down the left which made up for an off-colour Jose Ramirez Barreto. Rennedy’s incisive throughs and centres were not taken advantage of, but rattled the rival camp and kept Suley Musah busy at his job as right-back. The absence of this Ghanaian’s powerful bursts down right definitely handicapped East Bengal.</div>
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Their resistance broke after the changeover, when Abdulateef Seriki’s pass found Bungo Singh just outside the box on the right. Bungo picked out James Singh whose pass reached Rennedy at the goalmouth. The medio trapped the ball, negotiated a tricky bounce and jabbed it low past an advancing ‘keeper.</div>
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More chances came their way and it should have been 2-1 in favour of Mohun Bagan in the 85th inute but Barreto failed to find an empty net from the six-yard mark. Goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee was lying helpless after thwarting Bungo from Rennedy’s cross, but Barreto failed to bend properly and ballooned a right-footer over the bar.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: white;">
TEAMS</h3>
<b style="background-color: white;">EAST BENGAL:</b><span style="background-color: white;"> Sangram Mukherjee; Suley Musah, Jackson Egygopong, Dipak Mondal, Falguni Dutta; Amit Das (I.M. Vijayan, 24, Dipendu Biswas, 76), Tushar Rakshit (Chandan Das, 40), Dipankar Roy; Omolaja Olalekan, Bijen Singh.</span><br />
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN:</b> Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Dulal Biswas, Amouri da Silva, Hussain Mustafi, Rishi Kapoor; Debjit Ghosh, James Singh, R.P. Singh (Bungo Singh, 35), Rennedy Singh; Abdulateef Seriki, Jose Ramirez Barreto.</div>
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<b>Referee:</b> Supriyo Bhattacharya.</div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-29041675921140000522013-10-06T01:32:00.002-07:002013-10-06T01:47:47.174-07:00East Bengal 0-1 Mohun Bagan : National Football League 1st Leg 2001-02<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>16 Dec 2001, Calcutta:</b> Football is all about goals, and the one who gets them its most precious possession. Among those who do, some stand alone with their craftsmanship and vision. A combination of both is not very common and Indian football is fortunate to have one such practitioner even at a time when it’s experiencing new lows.</div>
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It was a stroke of pure brilliance from Jose Ramirez Barreto which separated Mohun Bagan from East Bengal in today’s National League tie at Salt Lake Stadium. The 1-0 verdict should not have too great an impact in the 12-team, double-leg marathon, considering it was just the second outing for both teams.</div>
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What it’s likely to do, taking into account the way the goal was scored, is that Mohun Bagan’s confidence will soar in the knowledge that they can continue to look up to Barreto in times of trouble. Their perennial rivals will have to go home, think what went wrong, work a way out and get back to business as soon as they can.</div>
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What continues to baffle soccer afficionados is what this Brazilian is doing in this dark and remote corner of world football! Surely, he will get better places to display his class where the standard is higher.</div>
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Time to talk about the match. It was as scrappy as any other clash involving the superpowers of Indian football. There was this tendency to interrupt proceedings with tricks forbidden by the law and referee K. Shankar flashed the yellow card five times to keep things under control.</div>
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There was also an expulsion — that of Ranjan Dey who attracted the yellow card twice within 13 minutes after coming in as substitute — which meant East Bengal had to make do with ten men for the last 32 minutes. East Bengal suffered another major blow when key defender Dipak Mondal left the field after getting injured. He is unlikely to return in three weeks. Dey, incidentally, was Mondal’s replacement.</div>
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And then, there was divine intervention in the 26th minute. It was an apparently harmless centre from the right, which travelled to Barreto stationed at the edge of the penalty box after a deflection from Abdulateef Seriki. The ball bounced waist-high between Jackson Egygpong and Barreto, and the latter had time for just one touch to accomplish mission. It came in the form of an air-bound, right-footed side volley and like an obedient aide, the ball crashed into the near end of the goal — beating India goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee to his right.</div>
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It didn’t jerk East Bengal into action, who were looking the better side till then and even had an early Suley Musah ‘goal’ disallowed because of an infringement. They continued with their slipshod ways with no constructive movement from the midfield and failed to create even one genuine chance. They did force the odd half-chance towards the end, but those were more out of desperation rather than planned moves.</div>
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East Bengal’s approach, when they realised they had to get even, was shockingly primitive. Balls were floated towards the box from the rear in the hope that strikers Bijen Singh and Omolaja Olalekan would get them down and do the needful. Neither is tall enough for such a plan to succeed and it didn’t.</div>
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In the early stages of the match, there was a bit of thrust from East Bengal down the right but Isiaka Awoyemi blasted them way over the mark like a spoilt kid. Their enterprise down the flanks, however, died down as the match progressed.</div>
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I.M. Vijayan looked almost clueless in his new avatar as midfielder. The most successful Indian striker in recent times was cheeky at his best and the odd one he chipped in was too clever for lesser mortals. He got a golden chance to redeem himself with a free-kick towards the end from what was dreaded as ‘Vijayan zone’ not too long ago. He buried it into the wall.</div>
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Even a six-minute stoppage time added on to the proceedings wasn’t enough for East Bengal to get their act right.</div>
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Mohun Bagan got two more clear chances in the second half when East Bengal had thrown most of their men forward. Seriki was the one to get the goalkeeper alone on both occasions but forced a smart save once and blew away the other to wilderness.</div>
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Mohun Bagan’s saviour on many occasions since arriving in India two years ago, Jose Ramirez Barreto rated today’s goal against East Bengal as his best yet.</div>
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He also said today’s victory in the National League clash was the right reply to those who were sceptical about his team’s ability.</div>
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“Our defence is not as bad as is made out to be. Today’s result proves it. The goal was special since it was my first in a win over East Bengal. It was also the most satisfying,” the magical Brazilian said.</div>
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The Bagan coach refused to see this match as an indicator of which way the title might go since it’s still so early in the marathon league. “It’s a morale-booster no doubt,” Subrata Bhattacharya felt.</div>
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His East Bengal counterpart Manoranjan Bhattacharya said his team didn’t deserve to lose. “We had better ball possession and I don’t know why the goal by Suley Musah was disallowed.”</div>
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Although the coach felt wronged there was no sign of discontent among the East Bengal players when the Ghanaian was pulled up for a foul when he hit the mark in the sixth minute.</div>
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There was more bad news in the East Bengal camp with Dipak Mondal being ruled out for at least three weeks.</div>
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Their mainstay in defence suffered a right ligament injury and had his leg plastered in the dressing room itself. The team doctor said Mondal has been advised not to fold that leg for some time.</div>
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Meanwhile, East Bengal’s goalkeepers’ coach Bhaskar Ganguly refused to blame Sangram Mukherjee for the goal. “He was perhaps unsighted and it’s never easy when it’s a volley or header,” explained the former stalwart.</div>
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“The problem with such efforts is there is little time to react, unlike a shot taken from the ground. You have to guess and hope the ball comes the way you dive,” he said.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: white;">
TEAMS</h3>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN: </b>Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Dulal Biswas, Amauri Da Silva, Hussain Mustafi, Lolendra Singh; James Singh, Basudeb Mondal (Sumit Sengupta, 89), Debjit Ghosh, Ajay Singh; Jose Ramirez Barreto, Abdulateef Seriki (Uday Konar, 87).</div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL: </b>Sangram Mukherjee; Suley Musah, Jackson Egygpong, Dipak Mondal (Ranjan Dey, 55), Surya Bikash Chakraborty (Ratan Singh, 61); Isiaka Awoyemi, I.M. Vijayan, Anit Ghosh, Dipankar Roy (Dipendu Biswas, 74), Omolaja Olalekan, Bijen Singh.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>K. Shankar (Tamil Nadu).<br />
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1011217/sports.htm#head1"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1011217/sports.htm#head1</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-6151520938872536182013-10-06T00:52:00.004-07:002013-10-06T00:52:56.506-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-0 East Bengal : National Football League 2nd Leg 2001-02<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>11 March 2002, Calcutta</b>: Ninety minutes at the Salt Lake Stadium this afternoon decided a number of things — that Mohun Bagan is well in the hunt for a third crown, that East Bengal will remain destined to roam around those lowly off-podium places, that Jose Ramirez Barreto is surely the best striker in the country today. It also proved that pan-fried emotion and not good soccer is the Bengali </span><i style="background-color: white;">babu</i><span style="background-color: white;">’s favourite </span><i style="background-color: white;">Maidan</i><span style="background-color: white;"> dish.</span><br />
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When Barreto struck home in the 55th minute, Mohun Bagan moved into the leader’s spot in the Tata National League with 28 points from 15 matches. Vasco also stand on 28 points but the Calcutta team has a better goal difference. Churchill, however, have 27 points after 14. East Bengal remained on 20 from the same number of matches.</div>
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It was a humid afternoon of wishful soccer, scrappy at best, temper-tattered at its worst. It was interesting to note that a 60,000-odd turnout really did not mind that what was being served may have been tasting a trifle too sour to be fresh. That was that frail, time-tested nature of the Calcutta palette.</div>
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To be fair, though, the goal was a package worth all the money one may have paid. It was a dainty and quick mix of a set-piece well effected and a defensive lapse that let go the marauders. Dulal Biswas loped up the middle and found R.P. Singh on the right, in the box. The pass actually reached Jo Paul Ancheri, but the star international botched it up with a jumble fry, and it all resulted in a square centre to the goalmouth. Barreto was volleying in a flash and East Bengal goalkeeper Sudip Sarkar could do little about it.</div>
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And, to think that East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick today refused to use the experienced Sangram Mukherjee for a so-called ‘safer’ Sudip.</div>
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The match was generally dominated by Mohun Bagan. There was little East Bengal could do in the face of probes from Abaulateef Seriki and Basudeb Mondal (who worked the midfield well) and even Rennedy Singh and R.P. Singh. Their efforts were too creaky, though, and referee Rizwan Ul-Haq’s frequent stoppages without the benefit of advantage did not help. East Bengal did have their mobility problem, but it was less due to what Bhowmick later said was “Falguni Dutta’s absence” and more due to the lack of basic initiative.</div>
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East Bengal also lost a good deal of manpower in trying to police Barreto and Seriki. That could have been the make-break difference. Suley Musah was hardly moving today, a man who makes the flanks lively in the dullest of seasons. There were also these temper tantrums (once a brief stoppage involving Seriki and Jackson Egygpong and the latter dived, bringing onto the ground an East Bengal official). On the one occasion that Musah moved, in the 30th minute, Carlos and Dipankar Roy took it to the goal with ‘keeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar out of position. Hussain Mustafi made a late save for Mohun Bagan.</div>
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However, there is little to say about the Mohun Bagan misses. In the 43rd minute Seriki’s effort went off the crosspiece, another in the 77th off Rennedy Singh again chipped off the crossbar.</div>
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Sadly, though, apart from the crazily cheering crowd, and the fact that one Calcutta team stays in the lead, there will be little to remember from this ‘derby’ clash, the second time that Mohun Bagan have beaten East Bengal in this League. That, too, is a first for National Leagues.</div>
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East Bengal’s Anit Ghosh started the day with a prayer. Later he was pulled out by coach Subhas Bhowmick because of “non-performance.”</div>
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Mohun Bagan’s Jose Ramirez Barreto finished his job and raised his hands in prayer. “I can only say I have been able to function the way I have because of my team,” he said. “It was a team win today,” he said.</div>
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The Brazilian singled out Abdulateef Seriki as the “best player of the day” and said the Nigerian’s efforts well complemented his in the 1-0 National Football League win at the Salt Lake Stadium.</div>
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Bhowmick said it was Falguni Dutta’s accident yesterday that did his team in today. “It had created such a psychological pressure on the team, it was difficult to come out of it,” he said after the match.</div>
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Bhowmick also put a good deal of blame on Jo Paul Ancheri (who is likely to be out again, because his injury seems to be troubling still) and even Anit, who did a decent job on-field anyway.</div>
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Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya believed he “waited out the first half just to measure up the rivals.”</div>
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“That was how I was able to dominate the second half,” he said. That was notwithstanding the fact that Mohun Bagan made a good deal of forays in the first half as well.</div>
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Bhattacharya felt that the League title is still far off, but “I will let things be easy now, I have been pressuring the players too much for too long.” He also felt that the first-leg win (in which, too, Barreto had scored) was “definitely more satisfying.”</div>
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TEAMS</div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<b>MOHUN BAGAN:</b> Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Dulal Biswas, Hussain Mustafi, Amouri Da Silva, Rishi Kapoor; R.P. Singh (Ajoy Singh, 75), Basudeb Mondal (Abdul Saliu, 82), Debjit Ghosh, Rennedy Singh; Jose Ramirez Barreto, Abdulateef Seriki.</div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL:</b> Sudip Sarkar; Suley Musah, Isiaka Awoyemi, Dipak Mondal, Jackson Egygpong; Jo Paul Ancheri (Tushar Rakshit, 78), Chandan Das, Anit Ghosh (Ranjan Dey, 60), Dipankar Roy (Dipendu Biswas, 64); Jose Carlos Da Silva, Bijen Singh.</div>
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<b>Referee:</b> Rizwan Ul-Haq (Delhi)</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020312/sports.htm#head3" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020312/sports.htm#head3</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-34932530703224058022013-10-05T21:45:00.002-07:002013-10-05T21:45:41.164-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-2 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 1st Leg 2002-03<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">20 Aug 2002, Calcutta:</span></b> Red and gold were very much the dominant colours at the floodlit Salt Lake Stadium as a boisterous 70,000-odd watched East Bengal score a 2-1 win over Mohun Bagan in Tuesday evening’s Super Division derby.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Dominating proceedings right from the start before losing their way somewhat for a short spell after the breather, East Bengal took the lead through Dipankar Roy in the 10th minute. Mohun Bagan were fast fading under the steady pressure, but got a lifeline in the 32nd minute when Basudeb Mondal made things even against the run of play. Their joy didn’t last the distance as Dipankar’s substitute S. Malsawmtluanga capped his team’s decent performance with a 74th-minute winner.</span><br />
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East Bengal, with 16 points from six matches, now head the table alongside Mohammedan Sporting. Mohun Bagan, after crashing to their second defeat in six games, stay on 12.</div>
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East Bengal’s five-man midfield gained early ascendancy with Chandan Das playing the anchor. They kept probing mostly down the flanks and moved up enough men inside the striking zone to push Mohun Bagan into the defensive. With the goalkeeper struggling with collections and deep defenders not oozing confidence, East Bengal created several openings and accuracy in their finishing could have made things embarrassing for Mohun Bagan.</div>
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Mohun Bagan were trying out a new defensive combination with George Ekeh replacing Yakubu as central defender and barring a lapse in concentration which led to the East Bengal winner, the newcomer had a good first match.</div>
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However, the vigil was far too inadequate elsewhere and the feeble midfield was clearly lacking a navigator. Basudeb tried to get things going but barring him and Dulal Biswas to an extent, there was hardly any contribution from the other medios.</div>
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Jose Ramirez Barreto, whose skill and determination bailed Mohun Bagan out of trouble on numerous occasions in the last three seasons, was a shadow of his usual self. Apart from a few classy pushes and nudges, one of which set up the equaliser, the Brazilian was kept quiet by Subhashish Roy Chowdhury.</div>
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With Chandan operating down the middle, Alvito D’Cunha and Dipankar, pushed closer to the sides, tried to make things happen instead of waiting for them. Strikers Mike Okoro and S. Kulothungan were always lurking around the box, which kept the Mohun Bagan defence from breathing easy.</div>
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Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Amit Sinha Roy was struggling to grip the ball and after getting away with a punch at the ball which almost bounced in off Okoro’s shoulder in the sixth minute, paid the price soon after.</div>
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Amit chose to fist Chandan’s flag-kick from the right and the ball went to Alvito who was waiting free near the tip of the box. The Goan hammered a left-footer, which came off the legs of the defenders crowding the goalmouth, but Dipankar slotted the rebound in from close.</div>
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It took Mohun Bagan 23 minutes to take the first shot at goal and it was a low right-footer from a distance that was collected well by goalkeeper Sandip Nandy. They got the equaliser when East Bengal skipper Anit Ghosh lost the ball near the rival box. Kajal Bhattacharya gave it to Basudeb who quickly saw that the entire East Bengal midfield had moved up and released Barreto down the right with a measured pass. Barreto dragged it wide, taking away two defenders and played it back inside the box for Basudeb who finished with a smart first-time right-footer.</div>
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Mohun Bagan were looking better in the second half but Ekeh’s only error in the match proved decisive. Shankarlal Chakraborty’s curling cross landed in front of the defender who failed to make contact while trying to whip it out.</div>
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Okoro gleefully took the ball, cut away towards the side and sent a measured cross for Malsawmtluanga who obliged with a header. The 20-year-old from Aizawl, nicknamed Mama, got a golden chance to stretch the lead but banged a right-footer against the upright after being put through by Okoro.</div>
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TEAMS</h3>
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<b>East Bengal:</b> Sandip Nandy; M. Suresh, Anit Ghosh, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury; Shankarlal Chakraborty, Alvito D’Cunha, Chandan Das, Dipankar Roy (S. Malsawmtluanga, 64), Surya Bikash Chakraborty; K. Kulohtungan (Subhash Chakraborty, 79), Mike Okoro.</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan:</b> Amit Sinha Roy; Satyabrata Bhowmick (Tarif Ahmed, 46; Amar Ganguly, 71), George Ekeh, Kajal Bhattacharya; Santosh Singh, Dulal Biswas, Basudeb Mondal, Umesh Sharma (Sumit Sengupta, 87), Lolendro Singh; Sheikh Sanjib, Jose Ramirez Barreto.</div>
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<b>Referee:</b> Subrata Sarkar.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://telegraphindia.com/"><span style="color: black;">telegraphindia.com</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-51975736249991194842013-10-05T21:40:00.001-07:002013-10-05T21:40:13.519-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-0 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2nd Leg 2002-03<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>17 Sept 2002, Calcutta:</b> Basudeb Mondal scored a fine goal that gave Mohun Bagan victory, but East Bengal live in the play-off slot still; two players were matched off and Tuesday’s derby match of the Calcutta Football League’s Super Division kept Mohammedan Sporting’s hopes of a title win ticking.</div>
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That, in short was what was soccer at the Salt Lake Stadium this day. No more, no less. It was a dreary, albeit often fast-paced, match that hardly challenged the imagination.</div>
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Considering the euphoria and angst in the 70,000-odd gathering, it is difficult to say whether football won or East Bengal lost. That, probably, is the order of the day, except for the fact that Mohun Bagan avenged the first leg defeat.</div>
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Of course, as far as domination statistics go, it surely was Mohun Bagan’s day.</div>
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The win gives Mohun Bagan their 22nd point from 11 matches. East Bengal stay on 27 and now play Port Trust who are dropout material. Mohammedan Sporting are on 27 points and have to play Mohun Bagan next. Thus the league remains open.</div>
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After a long lapse a match of the league was played under clear skies and on a dry turf. That helped speed up things onfield and it was pleasant to see a decent number of long balls being chased. However, it was less credit, initially, of the Mohun Bagan forwards and more discredit to the East Bengal defence that attacks seeped in.</div>
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In the 13th minute Dulal Biswas, up the middle, lobed to the goalmouth where Jose Ramirez Barreto jumped to head, but East Bengal goalkeeper Sandip Nandy jumped to clear well. Then George Ekeh failed to home in from close. Ekeh’s drawback was his short fuse. He got into trouble constantly, till he got his second yellow to be evicted. That did not help the Mohun Bagan forward line.</div>
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In the 17th minute Basudeb was up the middle, centring to Barreto, relayed further to Ekeh. From inside the box Ekeh failed to control and, as the ball was deflected back from the defence, Ekeh hopped on loose balance and hurriedly shot over.</div>
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The Barreto-Ekeh combination could have done things, but for the fact that both were marked too tightly and were left with little time to react. In the 21st minute, for example, Ekeh forwarded one to Barreto, but even before the quick-footed Brazilian could reach, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury cut him off with a fine-tuned bit of tackling that stood out in the tardy defence of East Bengal.</div>
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The East Bengal half line was not functioning optimally. As a result, there was not only more pressure on the defence, there was less feed for the attackers. Coach Subhas Bhowmick’s original plan of pulling the defence up attackers’ ears wasn’t working. Alvito D’Cunha was almost a lone ranger in the attack, with little support from either S. Malswamtluanga or K. Kulothungan. That helped the Mohun Bagan defence to cut him off many a foray.</div>
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In the 27th minute East Bengal came near scoring when off a Trijit Das pass from the right D’Cunha’s strong volley was just off target.</div>
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A minute to half time Basudeb was set up with a free kick, 25 yards off and to the left of the box. It was to be a regulation one, but Basudeb noticed a rather side corridor left open by the East Bengal defence, and at a pretty comfortable angle too. Basudeb, who has been good in dead ball situations earlier too, let go off right instep and, having taken air, the ball swerved a bit at goalmouth, beating Sandip Nandy jumping from midpost.</div>
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The second half saw a Barreto faltering at the goalmouth before Gaurab Dutta loped up the left. He got the better of a desperate challenger and in a position in the box from where he should have shot home, he tapped across the goalmouth.</div>
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As East Bengal mounted a minor attack, trouble started at the Mohun Bagan goalmouth. Bivash Ghosh was brought down by an overzealous attacker and Bivash almost reacted. Not that the mild-mannered Bivash would have hit, but East Bengal players rushed to the spot and it could have almost been a bad situation if not stopped through better sense.</div>
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Another bad miss followed, with Sandip Nandy tipping over a Jayanta Sen shot. Interestingly, soon into the second half Barreto moved down to the defence. That looked a trifle silly, but the Brazilian adapted to the situation pretty well, it seemed.</div>
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In the 23rd minute of the match Ekeh was in a fight with Kulothungan. The latter reacted somewhat violently and was anyway to be booked. Referee Arup Chakraborty, whose actions left much to be desired, showed the second yellow of the day to Ekeh and the red, and then also marched Kulothungan out.</div>
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While those punished protested, all players rushed to the referee. Basudeb was the first, pushing the official around, and Anit Ghosh also joined the melee. A delay of a couple minutes before the two walked out and play resumed.</div>
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The game degenerated to midfield before the long whistle blew.</div>
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Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya preened a bit Tuesday, after his team’s 1-0 victory over East Bengal in the return leg match of the Calcutta Football League’s Super Division. “My players played well, all the way, and despite some bad refereeing decisions (the ouster of George Ekeh), we were deserving winners,” he said, allowing himself a pat on the back.</div>
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“Basudeb’s was a fine goal, but look at my team, Gaurab Dutta, Rajib Ghosh… I’m not sure sometimes of the players we play with. No, it’s got nothing to do with revenge for the first leg, it is just a plain good win,” he said. “I still feel we can go to the play-off, though that isn’t something I am guaranteeing.”</div>
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He said it was “proper strategy” on his part that Jose Ramirez Barreto went down to defence in the latter part of the second half. “There was a gap there that needed to be filled,” he explained.</div>
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East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick said some strange “conspiracy” of the IFA in getting Mohammedan Sporting to the play-off has a hand in this failure.</div>
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He did not explain if Sandip Nandy’s missing of the Basudeb Mondal free-kick was also a part of that “conspiracy”. To an extent Bhowmick also blamed Nandy for the goal.</div>
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Basudeb was happy that he had again scored off a free-kick. “I was actually aiming it to Barreto. I’m happy that it went in,” said Basudeb with a Ronaldinho smile.</div>
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Barreto said he may not have felt “at home” among defenders, “but for Mohun Bagan, I will do all.”</div>
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TEAMS</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan</b>: Bivash Ghosh, Partho Sarathi Dey (Sunil Chhetri, 46), Dulal Biswas, Kajol Bhattacharya, Lolendro Singh, Jayanta Sen, Basudeb Mondal, Ajoy Singh (Uday Konar, 35; Rajib Ghosh, 70), Gaurab Dutta, Jose Ramirez Barreto, George Ekeh.</div>
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<b>East Bengal</b>: Sandip Nandy, Surya Bikash Chakraborty, Anit Ghosh, Subhasis Roy Chowdhury, M. Suresh, Shankarlal Chakraborty, S. Malswamtluanga, Chandan Das (Subhas Chakraborty, 62), Alvito D’Cunha, K. Kulothungan, Trijit Das (Dipankar Roy, 38; Kaustav Ghosh, 87).</div>
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<b>Referee</b>: Arup Chakraborty.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020918/asp/sports/story_1209607.asp" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020918/asp/sports/story_1209607.asp</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-1929725050260031982013-10-05T21:32:00.003-07:002013-10-05T21:32:57.190-07:00Mohun Bagan 0-2 East Bengal : National Football League 1st Leg 2002-03<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>8 Dec 2002, Calcutta: </b>East Bengal played to their strength and won. Mohun Bagan played with their injuries and fell further back in the Oil PSU seventh National Football League standings.</div>
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At the Salt Lake Stadium Sunday, in front of an 80,000-plus crowd, substitutes Subhasis Roy Chowdhury and Alvito D’Cunha found defensive lapses large enough to push through hasty initiatives and give East Bengal a 2-0 victory. This, off a match that champions Mohun Bagan could well have led from the first half.</div>
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A lot of things could have happened, it seemed. They didn’t, because the soccer was too poor to throw up surprises, the pace was lethargic enough to allow pre-emptive action on those attempted set-pieces, and there was this team which sincerely believes it has no fit players to fit a ‘big match’ bill. Mohun Bagan were deserving losers, if one can put it that way. In the process East Bengal are leaders now, moving to 12 points from four matches, ahead of overnight leaders Vasco (10 from five). Mohun Bagan have stayed at a lowly six points, now from five outings.</div>
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Out on a limb, you can’t expect to win in the National League. It was a gamble Mohun Bagan took, a rather foolhardy one on hindsight. Bhaichung Bhutia would have done better service to the team resting and recovering. Instead, he spent 58 minutes in the East Bengal defensive third trying to treat delicately the initiatives that were brought up by the hard-working Jose Ramirez Barreto and the occasional Rennedy Singh and Basudeb Mondal ones.</div>
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His tiptoeing efforts could have produced a goal, actually. In the 25th minute Jayanta Sen grabbed a loose pass well into rival territory. He moved in and passed to Bhaichung who cleverly tapped in back past a defender. With East Bengal goalkeeper Sandip Nandy out of charge, all Sen had to do was walk into the goal with the ball. He shot out from close instead.</div>
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It might have been a better gamble to field a couple of lesser mortals upfront, pushing Barreto back to do the digging. The team would have moved faster, and defeat would have been easier to digest.</div>
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Mohun Bagan did enjoy a degree of ball possession in the first half. They did flit around the rival goalmouth. But those were tentative times, more a trial-and-error method to a theory.</div>
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Had East Bengal’s new Brazilian recruit Gilmar da Silva Goncalves been half of what had been promised, the Bagan defence would have crumbled early, even though East Bengal’s second striker Mike Okoro seemed to have lost his way.</div>
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The problem with Bagan was that there was no strategy. Coach Subrata Bhattacharya’s staunch line has been that there can’t be one because you need “fit players to fit any plan”. That was also the attitude that allowed D’Cunha, coming in less than a minute before the break, to slowly change the face of the attack.</div>
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D’Cunha missed one in the 51st minute when he made a hash of an S. Venkatesh pass at the goalmouth. When he shot out, Bagan goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar was way out of charge.</div>
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Venkatesh, though, had made up for any lapse at goalmouth. Time and again he tore through the rival half line and with his quick change of flank, was able to unsettle the rival defence.</div>
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In the 71st minute, a D’Cunha flag kick from the right swerved into a melee at the Bagan goalmouth. As Subhasis jumped, the ball took his shoulder and bounced into the netting.</div>
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Into injury time, Venkatesh, having overlapped again, saw his probe challenged by a defender and tapped left to D’Cunha. D’Cunha took a clean, powerful volley that left Rajat beaten hands down.</div>
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D’Cunha was declared ONGC Man of the Match and received the Rs 5,000 cheque, instituted from this match.</div>
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While East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick is experiencing a state of almost-Nirvana, his Mohun Bagan counterpart has been brushing his hide with brusque comments like “it makes no difference, there’s lot of work left yet.”</div>
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Reactions were to the latters’ 0-2 Oil PSU seventh National Football League loss at the Salt Lake Stadium Sunday. The win pushed East Bengal ahead of the field and Bhowmick says this was what gave him “peace.” For Bhattacharya, though, there was a great deal of explaining to do, a cache of soul-searching surely to follow.</div>
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“This is not the end of the league,” said Bhowmick, we were lucky to win today and we must remember that we have a very long way to go yet. I saw a great many mistakes in the team, things I need to correct soon.”</div>
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On the off-colour Mike Okoro, he said: “Yes, Okoro needs to be sharper. We need to work with him. He can play far better than this and I’m sure he will come up to it.” And he wasn’t commenting on his new Brazilian recruit Gilmar da Silva Goncalves either.</div>
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Bhattacharya threw the ball to the Media. “You are the one who suggested the use of Marlanki Sutang. He proved a flop. What do I do'” Not exactly the reaction expected of a top flight NFL club. Okay, so what about fielding Bhaichung' Did he change the course of the match' No. Did he get more hurt in the process' Probably yes. “Look, what could I have done' Do I have anybody' I tried the young ones, and the tension of the day gave them butterfly stomachs and they melted away.”</div>
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The coach added he needs Lolendra Singh, at least, to be fit now (barely recovered from the flu). He said he needs “fit players, if I have to deliver.” He said he isn’t worried because the league “is a long one”, and that Bhaichung can rest for a while now, and that Gilmar isn’t “anywhere near Jose Ramirez Barreto.” Somebody somewhere else may have asked him to compare.</div>
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Alvito D’Cunha, meanwhile, was basking in new glory. The Man of the Match said he was dedicating the award and his goal to his teammates and “to my mom and dad.” He said he was happier that he could play well.</div>
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Of the late insertion, D’Cunha said it was a plan. “The coach and I had had a talk and the coach said he needed a fresh pair of legs later in the match when the rivals were growing weaker. The strategy clicked.”</div>
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He remembered that this was his first NFL goal with the East Bengal jersey on. A memory, surely, to keep.</div>
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TEAMS</div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL:</b> Sandip Nandy, Amjad Ali Khan (Subhasis Roy Chowdhury, 28), Arun Malhotra, Dipak Mondal, Douglas de Silva, Sasthi Duley, S. Venkatesh, Anit Ghosh (Chandan Das, 83), K. Kulothungan (Alvito D’Cunha, 45), Gilmar de Silva Goncalves, Mike Okoro.</div>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN:</b> Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Dulal Biswas, Isa Musa Eroje, Satish Bharti, Palash Karmakar, Jayanta Sen, Basudeb Mondal, Kajal Bhattacharya, Rennedy Singh (Sunil Chhetri, 74), Jose Ramirez barreto, Bhaichung Bhutia (Marlanki Sutang, 59).</div>
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<b>Referee:</b> K. Shankar (Tamil Nadu)</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021209/asp/sports/story_1461928.asp" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021209/asp/sports/story_1461928.asp</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-14403320619630167452013-10-05T21:25:00.003-07:002013-10-05T21:25:34.051-07:00East Bengal 2-1 Mohun Bagan : National Football League 2nd Leg 2002-03<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>25 Feb 2003, Calcutta</b>: If Mohun Bagan had talked about “pride” in pre-match promos, that surely was simply rubbish. If one judges from the way they worked out against East Bengal in their so-called “crucial” match of the Oil PSUs National Football League at the Salt lake Stadium Tuesday, “pride” and “honour” are words pretty much missing from the club’s dictionary.</div>
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It wasn’t because Mohun Bagan lost 1-2, despite having pulled abreast 1-1 at one point. It was because the way they went about the whole thing, in that sickly, unprofessional manner. It was because the way coach Subrata Bhattacharya deceives himself and his team. It is the way the officials of the club have deceived the club’s many followers of late, it is the way football has become mere commodity, packed in dull green and maroon.</div>
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The contrast was too stark to miss. It wasn’t anything flashy or anything bubbling over with talent. East Bengal’s was simple diligence and determination, and the title clearly in focus — 14 points ahead of Mohun Bagan, they are cruising.</div>
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East Bengal forged ahead in the 11th minute. The Mohun Bagan defence was the usual chaos, as Mike Okoro loped up the right. What does a wingback do when he sees the league’s leading scorer homing in' He takes defensive action. Mohun Bagan’s defence allowed this man enough leeway to move inwards and put S. Venkatesh in possession. And what did the Mohun Bagan defence do to control Venkatesh' Nothing. So Venkatesh had all the time in the world to trap, control, and tap neatly to Alvito D’Cunha, in the box.</div>
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D’Cunha shoots well, he does. And he did, too. Mohun Bagan were in the red.</div>
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Venkatesh was a number like so many, that Mohun Bagan failed to comprehend. He roamed rival territory with impunity, he snatched, he teased and set up chances. In the 12th minute he went in again, chipping one that Okoro sent just off target.</div>
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If there was one player worth the mention in the Mohun Bagan team Tuesday, it was Jose Ramirez Barreto. He was the usual snatcher-playmaker-attacker combine who receives no help from anybody (sometimes except George Ekeh).</div>
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While East Bengal pushed attacks with impunity, Barreto did his bit — or at least tried to — at his end. He missed a free-kick that missed the ‘wall’, and with Ekeh, generated the minor movements that the Bagan frontline showed.</div>
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Okay, there was this other player in the Bagan defence — Bhaichung Bhutia. What was this superstar doing. It looked like a rather extensive stroll around the green. Not the right time or place for that it seemed.</div>
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He wasn’t in the attack, he wasn’t in the game-making, he wasn’t in the snatching, he wasn’t in the feeding, he definitely wasn’t in the defence. So why was Bhaichung Bhutia in the team' That was because coach Subrata Bhattacharya did not have the spine to substitute him.</div>
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Nine minutes into the second half there was this one occasion when the East Bengal defence slipped. Ekeh was up the right and sent a low chip to the left. Barreto collected, as only he can, and sent a left-footer home for the equaliser.</div>
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That, though made little difference to the balance. East Bengal were the dominant side, and remained so.</div>
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They provided the official seal to that in the 73rd minute when Sasthi Duley let go a flier from the left top corner of the box. At the goalmouth, Okoro, who had been invited in by the Bagan defence, made no mistake.</div>
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That gave Okoro his 14th goal of the National League.</div>
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That also gave Mohun Bagan a rather pitiable face in the league. The smattering of die-hard Bagan supporters who came in Tuesday walked off quietly even before the long whistle. The East Bengal supporters, on the other hand, celebrated as if their team had won the title.</div>
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<b>TEAMS</b></div>
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<b>East Bengal</b>: Sangram Mukherjee (Sandip Nandy, 59), Surya Bikash Chakraborty, Suley Musah, Dipak Mondal, M. Suresh, Sasthi Duley, S. Venkatesh, Chandan Das (S. Malsawmtluanga, 68), Douglas Da Silva, Alvito D’Cunha (Subhas Chakraborty, 87), Mike Okoro.</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan</b>: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Dulal Biswas, Yakubu M. Rabiu, Satish Bharati, Lolendro Singh, Basudeb Mondal (Jayanta Sen, 28), Jose Ramirez Barreto, Ranjan Dey (Sunil Chettri, 77), Rennedy Singh, George Ekeh, Bhaichung Bhutia.</div>
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<b>Referee</b>: S. Suresh (Tamil Nadu).</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030226/asp/sports/story_1711478.asp" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030226/asp/sports/story_1711478.asp</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-47598526196541376342013-10-05T21:10:00.004-07:002013-10-05T21:10:44.018-07:00Mohun Bagan 0-3 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 1st Leg 2003-04<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Calcutta, July 5:</b> Black clouds loomed all afternoon at the Salt Lake Stadium, but it was a flash of red-and-gold that lit up the evening sky as tens of thousands of East Bengal fans made their way back, contented to say the least. There was 1.10 lakh spectators for the game.</div>
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They could so easily have witnessed history being scripted on a gloomy Saturday. The record 5-0 win East Bengal had notched up over their arch-rivals 28 years ago, would surely have been rewritten had the crosspiece and referee Subrata Sarkar not come in the way.</div>
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A clear penalty was not awarded midway through the second session when Bhaichung Bhutia’s deft tap struck central defender Insan Ali’s hand.</div>
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The striker, at his sublime best, couldn’t however be denied as he came up with a couple of brilliant second-half strikes to help East Bengal waltz past their arch-rivals 3-0 in the first derby of the season. Skipper Suley Musah had opened the scoring in the 23rd minute.</div>
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Mohun Bagan coach Aloke Mukherjee had warned his wards about the rivals’ incisive right-side. As it turned out, maximum damage was done from that wing only. S. Malsawmtluanga, Alvito D’Cunha and Surkumar Singh, along with Bhaichung, tore apart Mohun Bagan left-back Rishi Kapoor’s resistance time and again. Mohun Bagan will have to do some repair job soon, if they are to harbour hopes of improvement.</div>
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East Bengal took about 10 minutes to gauge the strength of the opposition. They realised that Mohun Bagan wouldn’t be too stronger than a Wari AC, at least in this early part of the season.</div>
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The red-and-gold midfield took complete control and it was just a matter of time before they scored. With Mohun Bagan badly missing a quality blocker, waves of East Bengal attacks lashed the green-and-maroon shores over and over again.</div>
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In the initial stages, Bijen Singh partnered Bhaichung upfront. But in a good tactical ploy, coach Subhas Bhowmick pushed Musah to the striker’s position, to take advantage of his big build.</div>
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Marcos Pareira, Mohun Bagan’s second Brazilian recruit after Jose Ramirez Barreto, was played as a defensive midfielder, but there was hardly anything to write home about his performance. In fact, he was to blame for the first goal. As Malsawmtluanga sent an accurate cross from the right, Pareira failed to clear and it was an easy head-in for Musah.</div>
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As the East Bengal section of the one-lakh, 10-thousand strong gathering burst into celebrations, a pall of gloom descended over the Mohun Bagan section. It seemed as if they knew straightaway what a miserable afternoon lay ahead of them.</div>
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A couple of minutes later, it could have been 2-0, but Surkumar’s booming right-footer struck the crosspiece.</div>
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Mohun Bagan tried to reorganise towards the later stages of the first half, thanks to their hardworking skipper Rennedy Singh and Barreto. They tried to build up a combination down the left, may be something Mohun Bagan can look to in future.</div>
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Rennedy, in fact, took a superb curling free-kick from 30 yards out, which was tapped over by Sangram Mukherjee.</div>
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Mohun Bagan came close to an equaliser in the 50th minute as Barreto set up Pareira, whose feeble right-footer was not good enough to test Sangram.</div>
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Just when it seemed Mohun Bagan were turning things around, Bhowmick brought in Alvito in place of Bijen Singh. The speedy Goan medio was the right man to take advantage of the tired legs in the rival defence.</div>
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East Bengal made it 2-0 in the 68th minute, following a superb piece of combination play between Alvito and Bhaichung. Alvito beat a rival defender with sheer speed and sent a cross. Bhaichung rose to the occasion and took a side-volley which had enough punch to beat Mohun Bagan ’keeper Imran Khan.</div>
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Though Bhaichung missed one in the 70th minute, he made amends in the 82nd. As Mohun Bagan went all out for a reducer, a ball from the deep reached Bhaichung in a free zone. He controlled well and took a shot which came back off goalkeeper Imran’s hand and the sidepost. The opportunistic Bhaichung chased the ball and tapped it into the open net.</div>
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Bhaichung Bhutia scored in a derby for the first time Saturday since his hattrick against Mohun Bagan in 1997 in the Federation Cup semi-final. However, he felt that the brace he scored today could so easily have been for Bagan.</div>
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“I had a horrible last season, continuously struggling with injuries. But I wanted to make it up this season for Mohun Bagan,” the striker said.</div>
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He informed that he had called up Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra and president Swapan Sadhan Bose a number of times before taking the final decision to switch to East Bengal. “But they were not even bothered to answer my calls. That made me feel that I’m totally unwanted,” Bhutia added. “Now I’m close to my best, and everyone knows what I can do when I’m playing well,” he said.</div>
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He also gave a lot of credit to their physio Kevin Jackson for the success. “He has worked very hard with us. The pre-season training has been fabulous and we’re reaping the harvest now,” he said.</div>
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Going out of his way, Subhas Bhowmick made a fervent appeal to his boys during Saturday’s team meeting that anything less than a 2-0 win would amount to “disappointment”, if not defeat, for him.</div>
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More than revealing the unknown side of the East Bengal coach, this, perhaps, put his plans into perspective, ahead of the much bigger and serious challenges in the ASEAN Club Championship.</div>
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“I knew that any setback against Mohun Bagan could have jeopardised my plans for the tournament. In that case, I might have been forced to rework my blueprint in Indonesia. Today’s result, at least, gave me and my team confidence that we are moving in the right direction and ready to take on the champion teams from South East Asia,” Bhowmick maintained.</div>
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He highlighted East Bengal’s first goal from captain Suley Musah as a perfect culmination of his plans. “I started Musah in the midfield as a blocker, deliberately giving the rivals an impression that he would be hovering on the defensive zone. But he was soon made into a second striker and the move paid off immediately,” the coach pointed out.</div>
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No doubt, then, that Subhas’ opposite in Mohun Bagan was ruing lack of preparation as the key cause for the disaster in a post-match discussion. “The match was played between a well-groomed, well-prepared team and another, who didn’t have enough time to get its act together,” Aloke Mukherjee said.</div>
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“Give us time to settle down. Both (Jose Ramirez) Barreto and Marcos (Perreira) joined the team the other day. They also need time to get acclimatised to a new outfit. With the current set-up of my team, I was hoping for a miracle against East Bengal. But it didn’t take place today.”</div>
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“I’m confident about my team. Next time we face East Bengal, at least this result will not be repeated,” he added.</div>
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Barreto echoed his coach, saying “the team required more preparation for the match”.</div>
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Captain Rennedy Singh, however, made it a point that had his 17-minute strike not been ruled out as a foul, the result might have been different. Musah’s opener came six minutes later.</div>
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“I went to the referee and asked him why he didn’t rule the goal in our favour. I was told I committed a foul on a defender. Thereafter, I decided not to argue with him,” Rennedy remarked.</div>
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<b>TEAMS</b></div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL:</b> Sangram Mukherjee, Surkumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli (Douglas da Silva, 36), Dipak Mondal, M. Suresh, Sashthi Duley, Suley Musah, S. Malsawmtluanga (Subhas Chakraborty, 88), Debjit Ghosh, Bijen Singh (Alvito D’Cunha, 66), Bhaichung Bhutia.</div>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN:</b> Imran Khan, Manitombi Singh, Debkumar Sasmal, Insan Ali, Rishi Kapoor, Mehtab Hossain (Sunil Chhetri, 73), Hardeep Saini (Basudeb Mondal, 66), Marcos Pareira, Rennedy Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto, Ashim Biswas.</div>
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<b>Referee:</b> Subrata Sarkar.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030706/asp/sports/story_2137494.asp" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030706/asp/sports/story_2137494.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-39426472545509607572013-10-05T21:02:00.002-07:002013-10-05T21:02:33.383-07:00Mohun Bagan 0-0 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2nd Leg 2003-04<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>4 Sept 2003, Calcutta:</b> There was plenty of action on and off the field. Three red cards, players trading blows, charging towards the referee after the match, a coach manhandling a rival supporter. No goals were scored though.</div>
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East Bengal played with nine men for 35 minutes against Mohun Bagan’s ten and still salvaged a goalless draw at Salt Lake Stadium in Thursday’s Super Division League match. It kept them ahead of the rest and dented Mohun Bagan’s fading chances of forcing an exciting finish.</div>
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The 1 lakh packing the stands saw these stars such as Jose Ramirez Barreto of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal’s Mike Okoro and yet, the man of the day was referee Subrata Sarkar. Bengal’s only referee on the current Fifa panel effected three expulsions — a rare occurrence in city soccer.</div>
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The unwanted started taking centrestage after a decent start by East Bengal. But just as it seemed they would gradually wear down their rivals, things swung out of control in the 23rd minute. It effectively upset the rhythm of both teams as the coaches had to fast redraw strategy which were different from what they initially planned.</div>
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Barreto had just played a quick one-two with fellow Brazilian Marcos Parreira and about to shoot at goal before being brilliantly tackled by Mahesh Gawli. A brawl broke out in seconds and players of both teams were seen punching and kicking each other.</div>
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East Bengal defender Dipak Mondal and Lolendra Singh of Mohun Bagan were ejected though from a distance, it seemed Debjit Ghosh had escaped despite being in the thick of things.</div>
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He made ‘amends’ soon. Debjit was probably a bit unlucky for being booked for what appeared to be a fair tackle in the 35th minute. But he was rightly shown the second and decisive yellow 11 minutes after the break for needlessly stamping on the back of Babun Kar.</div>
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Coming back to football, the period after Debjit’s expulsion was clearly the highlight of the game. East Bengal had their back to the wall and Mohun Bagan a great chance to seal a win they desperately needed. To astonish all, Mohun Bagan never succeeded in making their numerical advantage count.</div>
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There was this huge discontent in the Mohun Bagan camp for the referee not awarding a penalty in their favour when Mehtab Hossain’s attempted centre hit Gawli’s arm inside the box. The players charged at the referee after the final whistle and police intervened to restore normalcy.</div>
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None, however, pointed to the fact that not a single move saw Mohun Bagan — boasting Barreto, Marcos and Rennedy Singh — outnumber or outpace the East Bengal defence.</div>
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Despite starting with just one striker, East Bengal got two clear chances in the first half. Shylo Malsawmtluanga got hold of a clearance from the deep in the seventh minute and ran through the defence before setting up Okoro inside the box. The Nigerian had time to control and turn but went for a first-timer which sailed over the goal.</div>
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Then, in first half injury time, Bijen Singh’s cross found Douglas in handshaking distance with the goalkeeper, but quite inexplicably, the Brazilian failed to shoot. He had earlier forced a smart save from Prasanta Dora with a free-kick.</div>
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Mohun Bagan’s only genuine chance, following the move of the day, had come in the 32nd minute. Rennedy started the raid by cleverly releasing Barreto in the open space towards the right. The Brazilian waltzed in and essayed a low cross but Marcos, the only time he got past his marker, saw his diving header graze the horizontal before going out.</div>
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The ‘angry young man’ in East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick reared its face after Thursday’s Super Division League match against Mohun Bagan at Salt Lake Stadium.</div>
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The goalless city derby was eventful. Three players were red-carded and East Bengal retained their lead over closest rivals Mohun Bagan despite playing with nine men against ten for 35 minutes, keeping intact their five-point advantage with four matches to go.</div>
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Bhowmick, known for his volatile temperament in his playing days, manhandled a Mohun Bagan supporter after screams of “buying the referee” started flying in while he was making his way towards the media conference room after the match.</div>
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The coach took a while to locate the face in the crowd and broke through a rope barricade separating the spectators from the rest before getting hold of his man. The Mohun Bagan fan escaped after a few blows.</div>
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East Bengal officials intervened and tried to pacify Bhowmick, but the police — they were there in numbers — reacted only after Bhowmick had well and truly got involved in the mess.</div>
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“There is no question of regretting what I did. Nobody has the right to insult me,” Bhowmick said when <b>The Telegraph</b> caught up with him. He said there is no question of setting a bad example for future coaches either. “What about providing protection'” he quipped.</div>
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Later, club secretary Kalyan Majumdar, who was among the few trying to help Bhowmick calm down, offered a different version. “Bhowmick didn’t charge at the Mohun Bagan fan. He was attacked first and has a right to defend himself.”</div>
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Majumdar, however, chose to ignore the fact that it was Bhowmick who started the ‘move’ and not the other way round. “If somebody claims so, he’ll be lying.” Eyewitnesses, though, had a completely different story to offer.</div>
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Coaches of both teams blamed referee Subrata Sarkar for poor supervision. Aloke Mukherjee, along with Bhowmick, said they were denied clear penalties.</div>
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Bhowmick even felt that the red card on Debjit Ghosh was unjustified. “He didn’t deserve the first yellow.”</div>
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“Even during the period when my team was a man down, we created chances. 3-1 in our favour would have been a fair result.”</div>
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Mukherjee insisted his team should have got a penalty. “The referee killed the match. We should have won after what has been the best performance of our team this season so far. We need outstation referees for a match involving these two.”</div>
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When asked whether it’s all over for them in the league, (East Bengal are on 34 points from 12 matches, while Bagan have 29 from 12) the coach said: “It’s not it in our hands anymore. We’ll have to win all the matches and see how things go from there.”</div>
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TEAMS</div>
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<b>East Bengal:</b> Sandip Nandy, Mahesh Gawli, Dipak Mondal, M. Suresh, Douglas da Silva, Debjit Ghosh, Sur Kumar Singh (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 46), Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Sashti Duley, Dipankar Roy (Bijen Singh, 38), Mike Okoro.</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan: </b>Prasanta Dora, Babun Kar, Sanjiv Maria, Debkumar Sashmal, Rishi Kapoor, Lolendra Singh, Mehtab Hossain (Basudeb Mondal, 85). Hardip Gill (Hardip Saini, 20), Rennedy Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto, Marcos Parreira.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>Subrata Sarkar.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030905/asp/sports/story_2335047.asp" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030905/asp/sports/story_2335047.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-24348673402259211192013-10-05T15:16:00.001-07:002013-10-05T23:58:15.746-07:00East Bengal 0-0 (3-5) Mohun Bagan : IFA Shield 2005<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>28 September 2003, Calcutta: </b>It was Mohun Bagan’s 20th title-grab, off the 109th Chlor-Mint IFA Shield at the Salt Lake Stadium Sunday, but the process wasn’t too emphatic and neither was the team glorious in victory. To that extent, East Bengal, missing several of their key players and playing the last ten of the 120 minutes with ten men, can call it a moral victory.</div>
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Regulation time and 30 minutes failed to yield goals and, in the end, Bagan prevailed 5-3 via the tiebreaker. But there were a couple of misses that shouldn’t have been, there was some atrocious refereeing and Alvito D’Cunha, who wasn’t supposed to play in the first place, came on for four minutes before hitting out (off ball) at Babun Kar and was thrown out.</div>
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It was hardly competition at any level and there was enough scope for Subhas Bhowmick’s wards to pull off a surprise the way they organised themselves. Coach Bhowmick is a pragmatic person, and, well aware of his strength and weaknesses. He pulled his only key player Suley Musah back into deep defence and placed him in full charge of Jose Ramierz Barreto. Thereafter wherever Barreto would go, Musah was sure to follow.</div>
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That created a vacuum of sorts in the Bagan forward line and Marcos Parreira wasn’t able to make up for the loss, nor was Rennedy Singh. It was a basic problem of poor passing and a lack of cohesion. Conversely, East Bengal were organised around their limited scope, and gave their all.</div>
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With the Mohun Bagan defence being what it is, the speedy Bijen Singhs, and Shylo Malsawmtluangas raided rival defence lines with impunity. The right flank was even more lively in the presence of the overlapping Sur Kumar Singh.</div>
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One also was witness to a weird situation where Musah was forcibly holding Barreto back, throwing him off balance on several occasions. This happened throughout the match, but referee J. Ravi Shankar from Delhi somehow failed to notice it each time. Shankar was not around for most of the decision that he arbitrarily took, being slow on the move.</div>
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In the 34th minute Chandan Das was up the right lifting the ball into the box from where Dipankar Roy’s header was off target. Four minutes later a Chandan Das free-kick went into the box and reached an overlapping Subhasis Roy Chowdhury. Subhasis headed it down but the ball took Babun Kar’s feet before goalkeeper Prasanta Dora collected.</div>
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In the 42nd minute Shylo Malsawmtluanga was up the right, passing to Sur Kumar. The latter should have taken more time to shoot. In the haste he put in straight onto the lap of Dora.<br />
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Mohun Bagan reorganised themselves in the second half and mounted a number of attacks, but poor passing and trapping got in the way of moves translating into goals.</div>
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In the 59th minute Barreto was up the left. Musah, as usual pushed him down to the ground, but lost control of the ball anyway. Rennedy took up the spill and passed to the goalmouth, to Mehtab Hussein. With goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee out of charge, slotting home was the easiest thing Mehtab could do. He failed to make any positive connection, and it looked he never really made that effort. That remained the best chance wasted in the match.</div>
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By extra time play was slowing down and little of the ingenuity was evident. There was no need for Alvito to do what he did, and the ouster was possibly the only decent decision by the referee.</div>
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In the shootouts, Barreto, Palash Karmakar, Mehtab, Sunil Chhetri and Lolendra Singh converted. For East Bengal, while Musah, Bijen Singh and Sur Kumar Singh converted, M. Suresh’s shot was too weak and was saved by a diving Dora. That sealed the day and the Shield for Bagan, and also gave the Man of the Match trophy to Dora.</div>
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While Mohun Bagan coach Aloke Mukherjee said their 109th Chlor-Mint IFA Shield victory was a joint effort of “all my units, including me, my players, my trainer and even masseur,” East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick said “that’s it, they’ll get no more from me this year.”<br />
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The mood was obviously different at either end, but Mukherjee admitted that “this win was absolutely essential for me and my team. It is like oxygen for our players, or our very existence would have been threatened.” He said he did change the complexion of the match a bit in the second session with a change in strategy that “is derived from the fine relation that exists between me and my players.”</div>
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Mukherjee has never denied that he has taken good advice from the likes of Jose Ramirez Barreto. He says it is good to have this two-way thing. He admitted that Mehtab’s miss was too bad and could have cost the team the match. However, he refused to admit that Sanjeev Maria has been found wanting in the defence. “Mark my words,” he said, “Maria will one day be one of the best defenders in the country.”<br />
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Goalkeeping coach Atanu Bhattacharya said he was happy to see how well Dora has shaped up and how well he took up the shootouts and got the club the victory. Bhowmick said: “We could actually have won 3-1, but the misses were there, and this should be a lesson. We believe we have seen the end of all this, and there will be no more slips for East Bengal.”<br />
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He, of course, did not find Alvito D’Cunha’s foul a happy affair. “This I cannot condone,” he said. “The player concerned should be fined,” he said with usual candour.</div>
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Alvito, himself, was alone, teary-eyed. “I was feeling better, so I asked to be fielded,” he said. “But, then, where did I get to play'” he believed it wasn’t a fair decision.<br />
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<b>TEAMS</b></div>
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<b>MOHUN BAGAN:</b> Prasanta Dora, Babun Kar, Deb Kumar Sasmal, Sanjeev Maria, Rishi Kapoor (Lolendra Singh, 46), Mehtab Hussein, L. manitombi Singh (Basudeb Mondal, 46; Sunil Chhetri, 117), Palash Karmakar, Rennedy Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto, Marcos Parreira.</div>
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<b>EAST BENGAL</b>: Sangram Mukherjee, Sur Kumar Singh, Dipak Mondal (Sujoy Dutta, 97), M. Suresh, Subhasis Roy Chowdhury, Suley Musah, Sasthi Duley, Shylo Malsawmtluanga (Alvito D’Cunha, 103), Chandan Das, Dipankar Roy (Subhas Chakraborty, 57), Bijen Singh.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>J. Ravi Shankar (Delhi).</div>
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Source : <a href="http://telegraphindia.com/"><span style="color: black;">telegraphindia.com</span></a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-46899178084475299832013-08-09T17:17:00.003-07:002013-08-09T17:17:50.970-07:00East Bengal 2-1 Mohun Bagan : National Football League 1st Leg 2003-04<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>22.1.2004, Calcutta: </b>A draw would at least have been a moral victory for Mohun Bagan. They played their hearts out in the first half, and despite changing ends at 1-1, silly mistakes in the defence robbed the initiative and the match in the second. In the end, East Bengal’s 2-1 win in their National Football League derby at the Salt Lake Stadium looked </div>
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deserving. <span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">In the end, there was good behaviour. No post-match finger-pointing, no outburst against referee S.M. Balu of Karnataka (a few unusual decisions did happen) and it was all very refreshing, really. As the coaches met the media, probably the long lay-off that lies ahead played on their minds.</span></div>
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East Bengal beat arch-rivals Mohun Bagan 2-1 in their National Football League derby at the Salt Lake Stadium Thursday. While Dipankar Roy put East Bengal ahead, Ashim Biswas restored parity, before Mike Okoro got the winner.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">Dipankar Roy put the league champions ahead in the 23rd minute and Ashim Biswas restored parity in the 40th. Mike Okoro headed home the winner in the 65th minute.</span></div>
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All the tension that the coaches predicted didn’t really seem to matter in the first half, with coach Aloke Mukherjee’s green-maroon brigade quickly getting a measure of their opponents, using excellent half-line feed and a neat passing game. Veteran Basudeb Mondal was all over, so was Rennedy Singh. Eduardo was providing excellent support to Biswas upfront, taking a good deal of load off the defence.</div>
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In the defence, too, Leonardo was excellent in interception, showing good anticipation. However, Rishi Kapoor remained a sad story.</div>
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While East Bengal’s Okoro was outstanding up the right and moving into the area of kill, the forward line, especially the famed duo of Bhaichung Bhutia and Cristiano de lima Junior was barely allowed any elbow space. The idea was to get Okoro to shovel up the feed to the forward line for a shot.</div>
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In the 12th minute Basudeb was up the middle, sending a rising centre to Eduardo on the right. East Bengal goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee made a sterling diving save of the Brazilian’s powerful left-footed volley.</div>
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Junior did try a header at the other end, but it was a rather half-hearted effort.</div>
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The goal actually came quite against the run of play, in a counter-attack of sorts, as Bhaichung received one from a melee in the rival defensive third. He passed onto Okoro on the right and the latter lifted for Dipankar. Dipankar’s right-footer from an acute angle was a tentative shot, but it took Bagan ’keeper Bilifang Narzary’s fingers and went in.</div>
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East Bengal were suddenly on the offensive from then, the Bagan defence looking pretty shaky. Okoro again pressed in, lifting one from the right to the goalmouth in the 37th minute. Bhaichung had two defenders on guard, but himself moved in late for the kill, wasting the opportunity.</div>
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The equaliser, too, came against the run of play. While it was East Bengal charging in, a misspass had Leonardo and Eduardo move up off a one-two. Leonardo’s rising centre reached the goalmouth and Biswas jumped quickly to head in brilliantly past the far post, with ’keeper Mukherjee stranded at the near.</div>
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Three minutes into the second session of play Eduardo hurt his ankle and had to be replaced by Sunil Chhetri. The result was a big loss of attacking sting in the Bagan forward line. That also pushed the defensive screen in lateral pressure, showing gaps.</div>
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Chhetri did get his chance to be in the sun when he was fed a lifting centre from the left by Rennedy, but the former, placed well, headed off target from close. Had that been scored the story of the day could well have been different.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">Junior, too, disappointed in the 57th minute. A ball from the left was taken by a diving Narzary, but in the fall it spilled out and at the feet of Junior. The Brazilian was too slow to trap and turn as Harpreet Singh cleared from near the goalline.</span></div>
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Then came the clincher. It was a Kapoor folly that resulted in a flag-kick on the right. Alvito D’Cunha’s low shot could also have been intercepted, but it moved into the melee instead. Okoro had to barely jump before heading in.</div>
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As the teams go into a long lay-off from the National League — the national team goes into the pre-World Cup matches in Margao — East Bengal carry 21 points and Bagan 14.</div>
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“Satisfied”, wasn’t a word East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick uses often. He did just that, and then said: “I wanted to end the first leg on 20 points, my players gave me a point extra. That’s nice.” He even went onto point a deficiency in the rival attack as a relieving factor — another uncharacteristic comment (Wednesday he had refused to admit any Jose Ramirez Barreto factor in his confidence). “Of course it (Barreto not being there) made a difference. We could play freely. Barreto is always a threat, even if we have taken a good lead,” he said.</div>
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“I had told my boys to be cautious in the first half and not concede a lead. I had said we would then handle the second half. They did just that,” said Bhowmick.</div>
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Though not really saying so, Bhowmick made it clear that the title-defence now looked a distinct possibility. He said the upcoming AFC Champions League is a “big challenge and we want to keep the good work going.” He refused to say if the gap and the national team stint could in any way hamper his preparations.</div>
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Mohun Bagan coach Aloke Mukherjee’s despair was understandable. “I was handicapped with the shortage of another good attacker in the reserve bench to provide support to Ashim Biswas,” he said.</div>
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“There is little I could do about this… In the month-long gap that there will be now I will be able to shore up my defensive shortfall (and there were many Thursday, especially by Rishi Kapoor that resulted in the Okoro clincher), but I need a good foreigner in striking position. I will ask my club for this.”</div>
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Regarding the deficiencies that ’keeper Bilifang Narzary has shown, Mukherjee said he was again helpless. “Had Prasanta Dora or Imran Khan been available for this match the end scoreline would have been different,” he said. “However, I am happy that my boys did play a great game in the first half. We managed to bottle up their top two strikers, Bhaichung Bhutia and Cristiano Junior.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">“That we conceded the goals was through silly defensive errors, but it is also true that they were able to score only off set-pieces,” said the coach.</span></div>
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Mike Okoro has gone through a lot over the past one year. From spearheading the East Bengal attack to glory in Jakarta, he came close to being suspended for his whimsical ways.</div>
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With injuries to the likes of Suley Musah and Douglas da Silva, the East Bengal authorities were forced to persist with the Nigerian ball-player, and it’s clear as broad daylight that they were not wrong.</div>
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Okoro himself believes the dark days are behind him and he is close to his best. “It’s New Year, a completely new beginning…I want to look ahead,” the Nigerian said.</div>
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Okoro was the standout man for East Bengal on Thursday in an unaccustomed position in the midfield. He was the main man behind most of the attacks and clinched the game for East Bengal in the 65th minute header.</div>
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“Things did go a little wrong late last year. But I’m happy to be back in full flight,” a visibly relaxed Okoro said.</div>
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But what was going wrong' “The concentration wasn’t there, I’m trying to get my focus back.”</div>
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But what he didn’t mention was the enormous turmoil he had gone through in his personal life. After losing his baby, he broke off with his long-time fiancée. He came back to India a completely disoriented man, and the East Bengal authorities even contemplated on providing psychiatric treatment to him.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">“I want to dedicate this performance to all those who have stood by me during the rough times.”</span></div>
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Is this the best performance of his life'</div>
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“Don’t know, but definitely one of the most important ones of my career,” he added.</div>
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“In fact, things started falling in place from the last game against Mohammedan Sporting…I’m happy to keep the good work going.</div>
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When asked whether it was a little difficult playing in the midfield, Okoro said: “A good player has to adjust himself in every position. The coach wants me in the midfield and it’s my duty to keep delivering.”</div>
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But he agreed to the fact that Jose Ramirez Barreto’s absence was a factor. “When a player of his stature is not around, you feel more confident.” Mohun Bagan forward Ashim Biswas also harped on that point. “Had Barreto been there, I could have played a little more freely. It’s always tough to play with three markers breathing down your throat,” Biswas, Bagan’s lone scorer, said.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">Three members of the Bayern Munich fan club — Michael Barth, Marcos Ross and George Berz were present at the Salt Lake Stadium to get a flavour of Indian football. “We’re travelling all around the world to watch football and are sponsored by our organisation — Red Munich,” Ross said. The group, however, didn’t sound too satisfied with the quality of football that was on offer.</span></div>
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<b>TEAMS</b></div>
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<b>East Bengal:</b> Sangram Mukherjee, Dipankar Roy (Alvito D’Cunha, 60), Dipak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli, Subhashis Roy Chowdhury, Subhas Chakraborty, Mike Okoro, Debjit Ghosh, Sujoy Dutta (Anit Ghosh, 70), Bhaichung Bhutia (K. Kulothungan, 83), Cristiano de lima Junior.</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan</b>: Bilifang Narzary, Babun Kar, Harpreet Singh, Leonardo, Rishi Kapoor (Lolendra Singh, 83), Mehtab Hossain, Basudeb Mondal, Rocus Lamare, Rennedy Singh, Eduardo (Sunil Chhetri, 48), Ashim Biswas.</div>
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<b>Referee:</b> S.M. Balu (Karnataka).</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040123/asp/sports/story_2817356.asp" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040123/asp/sports/story_2817356.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-11830855771357368312013-08-09T16:51:00.002-07:002013-08-09T17:20:19.329-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-2 East Bengal : National Football League 2nd Leg 2003-04<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>25.4.2004, Calcutta:</b> East Bengal’s pride and character first woke up to an early Mohun Bagan goal, then shot back at the setback with a devouring rage and finally put things into perspective, returning 2-1 winners over their arch-rivals in the high-voltage National Football League (NFL) clash at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday.</div>
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Bhaichung Bhutia and Cristiano Junior scored in a span of six minutes in the second half to turn Ashim Biswas’s 15th-minute goal into insignificance as East Bengal inched closer to the title with 43 points after 19 matches and Mohun Bagan were left sniffing at the relegation threat on 19. That was then, East Bengal’s 100th win over Mohun Bagan in domestic tournaments. They are now just a win away from retaining the title.</div>
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The beauty of the goals as well as of the game in its entirety, however, could not escape phases of its ugly face as well, when Mohun Bagan captain Rennedy Singh and East Bengal right-back Surkumar Singh were marched out of the game following a fight between them in the 62nd minute. Then, in closing minutes, Mohun Bagan’s Leonardo da Almeida and Mehtab Hossain and East Bengal substitute Dipankar Roy were engaged in another bout of altercation, which ended up with the latter two being lucky to receive just yellow cards.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">Lolendra Singh and Leonardo as well as Mahesh Gawli and Douglas da Silva were also booked in a match which saw as much nicety of play as heated arguments among players.</span></div>
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The match could also be interpreted in accordance with an anticipated script — Mohun Bagan defending deep and desperate against the adventurous red-and-gold brigade. In the 10th minute, Mike Okoro, ever unflagging and energetic, crossed to the address of an onrushing Alvito D’Cunha, whose first-time shot was ably saved by Prasanta Dora. Back came another attack, this time Junior header went over the bar.</div>
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It seemed an East Bengal surge all along but Ashim’s goal suddenly painted the landscape in a different colour. It was born off Rennedy’s famous left-foot and when Mehtab sold a dummy with his captain’s cross, Dipak Mondal completely failed to read the bounce of the ball and Ashim, waiting behind, gleefully accepted the offer and volleyed home low to Sangram Mukherjee’s right hand.</div>
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Subhas Bhowmick immediately carried out a reshuffle in the field, replacing Debjit Ghosh with Dipankar, who switched to the right wing. It now looked a test of East Bengal’s nerve and ambition and they responded to it in style. Mohun Bagan’s gradual retreat to their area, aiming to protect Ashim’s gift, allowed the opponents operating in an almost unchallenged middle-third. Crosses from both sides started coming thick and fast into the Mohun Bagan box.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">Subrata Bhattacharya, Mohun Bagan’s new technical director, applied double covering for Bhaichung and Junior with Palash Karmakar giving special attention to the prolific Brazilian striker. In another interesting move, Basudeb Mondal was turned into a spoiler instead of a creator, keeping a close tab on Douglas’ operation in the centre. The green-and-maroon team, in a new jersey, suddenly looked like an invigorated bunch, as if with a cause to fight till last breath. They chased every ball and every rival in group, leaving the fancied East Bengal attackers helpless in opening up the defence.</span></div>
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Junior’s high-volley rocked the crossbar in the 35th minute, but Mohun Bagan otherwise managed to hold their fort intact.</div>
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But East Bengal, like earlier occasions, came back firing on all cylinders in the second half. Bhaichung failed to push the ball in from handshaking distance with Prasanta in the 51st minute, but it didn’t cost his team much as the equaliser came within a couple of minutes. Shylo Malsawmtluanga fed Douglas in the middle and the latter released it for fellow countrymate Junior on the right. Junior outran marker Palash and took a low volley, which came into play after hitting the side-post. Bhaichung, the predator, followed the ball and finished it at the other post.</div>
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The winner appeared always on the cards as Mohun Bagan fell back heavily into their area. Dipankar passed to Alvito near the penalty arc and the latter quickly released the ball for Junior on the left. As the Brazilian sprinted forward, came in his way the legs of Leonardo.</div>
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The referee Walter Pereira pointed to the spot-kick and Junior converted to take his NFL tally to 13, one behind Churchill Brothers’ Yusif Yakubu.</div>
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Junior’s goal might have taken the steam out of Mohun Bagan fight and it was reflected in the way Rennedy kicked Surkumar from behind. Bhaichung quickly intervened and tried to pacify the rival captain. Surkumar turned back, took his attacker by the scruff of his neck. The duo fell into ground fighting and then stood up, only to head off the field in shame.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">“Mohun Bagan were ultra-defensive throughout the match. They were only heavily intent on holding us by any means. By doing so, they sometimes looked like a lower-grade first division team, playing against bigger opponents… it happens in </span><i style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">para</i><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"> football,” Bhowmick commented in the post-match press conference.</span></div>
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Mohun Bagan technical director Subrata Bhattacharya, however, reasoned his strategy was influenced by his wards’ strength. “We played according to our strengths and weaknesses. Had I won the match, I could have also said a few things in similar lines,” he shot back.</div>
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“East Bengal definitely played better and were deserved winners. But I don’t think we’ve played <i>para</i> football and they something European. Then, why didn’t they win the match 10-0' Why the very same players (of East Bengal) conceded five goals against a team like Oman'” Bhattacharya pointed out.</div>
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He, though, admitted Rennedy Singh’s exit from the field (after his red-card, along with East Bengal’s Surkumar Singh through a fight) was a “huge blow” to his team. He also was critical of the physical ability of his boys, with a hidden allusion to the team under coach Aloke Mukherjee, who has stopped attending practice since the technical director’s induction.</div>
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“To me, the physical strengths of the teams made all the difference. I fielded Abhay Kumar in a key position (in defence). But he became tired afterwards and later I came to know he hadn’t had practice for the last 10 months at all. Abhay’s fatigue was a setback in that I couldn’t block East Bengal’s wing play.</div>
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“I know my players remain fit for about 60-70 minutes. But If my players were physically strong, I could’ve played with some calculations,” Bhattacharya said.</div>
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“My target has got a bit tougher now, but remains the same — six points from three matches,” he added.</div>
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Bhowmick, however, gave credit to Bhattacharya, saying the Mohun Bagan technical director “had done what he could with his resources”.</div>
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“But I’ve not seen any fight in them. What they were doing was simple — defending deep and clearing the balls high and long. And we conceded the goal in one such moves,” observed Bhowmick.</div>
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“In the first-half, my boys failed to explore the gaps in Mohun Bagan defence. We made some changes and rectified our mistakes thereafter and succeeded,” he added.</div>
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Incidentally, Ashim Biswas, often criticised for his lack of goal-scoring moments in the NFL, has now hit the target in the last three meetings between the arch-rivals. His team, though, lost on all occasions.</div>
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“It’s tragedy… I can’t explain it. Whenever I scored against them, my team lost,” lamented Mohun Bagan’s star.</div>
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“The job is now cut out for all of us…. We’ve to stay out of relegation,” he said.</div>
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<b>TEAMS</b></div>
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<b>East Bengal: </b>Sangram Mukherjee; Debjit Ghosh (Dipankar Roy, 24), Mahesh Gawli, Dipak Mondal; Surkumar Singh, Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Douglas D'Silva, Alvito D'Cunha (Surya Bikash Chakraborty, 80), Mike Okoro; Cristiano Junior, Bhaichung Bhutia (K. Kulothungan, 88).</div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan: </b>Prasanta Dora; Palash Karmakar, Lolendra Singh (Sunil Chhetri, 70), Leonardo da Almeida, Debkumar Sashmal; Abhay Kumar (Hardeep Gill, 86), Mehtab Hussain, Basudeb Mondal (Harpreet Singh, 59), Noel Kasak, Rennedy Singh; Ashim Biswas.</div>
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<b>Referee: </b>Walter Pereira.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040426/asp/sports/story_3173345.asp" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040426/asp/sports/story_3173345.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-86410880914100137182013-06-25T04:35:00.002-07:002013-08-09T17:26:55.407-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2004-05<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong>18.7.04,</strong> <b>Calcutta: </b>Mohun Bagan technical director Subrata Bhattacharya’s strategy of strengthening the defence and his wards’ fine execution could just have fetched them full points. Lady Luck, though, decided otherwise, and they had to be content with just one point, after a 1-1 draw with East Bengal in the season’s first derby at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. <br />
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Mohun Bagan went into the lead through Sunil Chhetri in the 26th minute. The equaliser came in the 71st minute through a Douglas da Silva free-kick. </div>
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Things were going swimmingly for Bagan, but in the 58th minute coach Bhattacharya was forced to withdraw the in-form Noel Wilson who was limping after a Shylo Malsawmtluanga tackle. Abhay Kumar came in for Wilson, but the latter could not match the sturdy action of Wilson. That can be considered the turning point of the match. East Bengal were all over soon after. <br />
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It seemed the green-maroon camp wanted to put behind last season’s dismal show and come up with surprises against the favoured opponents. Bhattacharya raised many eyebrows by fielding Rishi Kapoor in the playing XI for the first time in the season. That was one of his many small tactical changes.</div>
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East Bengal, on the other hand, never looked in control. There were flashes of individual brilliance mostly from Alvito D’Cunha, and later also by Douglas da Silva. And Bhaichung Bhutia wasn’t his glamorous self.</div>
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In the early part of the first half the red-gold shirts launched few attacks up the middle but failed to penetrate, mostly because of Eduardo Coelho and Palash Karmakar. The duo thwarted moves with ease.</div>
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When East Bengal tried to direct the game up the right wing, via Syed Rahim Nabi, the player came up against a tough proposition in Kapoor. Nabi wasn’t able to find his way past that hurdle, and it was difficult to understand why East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick persisted with Nabi till the end. </div>
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To add to Bhowmick’s woes was Louis Aniweta. He is a somewhat average defender in aerial tussles, but below average on the ground. More often than not it was Dipak Mondal and Selwyn Fernandez who saved the national champions from the blushes. </div>
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By the 15th minute Mohun Bagan had the match in their backyard. This culminated in a brilliant goal in the 25th minute. Ashim Biswas, coming up the left, passed on to an advancing Sunil Chhetri on the right, inside the box. Sunil took the ball in his stride, and, on the run, dodged Fernandez and Aniweta with a body feint. While he changed path, he also switched the ball from his left to the right foot. In one sweeping motion, he had let go a powerful grounder that found the target.</div>
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Watching Syed Hussain was another drudgery. Bhowmick did right to replace him with Shylo Malsawmtluanga inside the first half. After Malsawmtluanga’s arrival the East Bengal midfield looked somewhat more decent. Sashti Duley, as usual, switched to the left. </div>
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After the breather, Bhowmick, realised the need for the big push, and took a gamble. He replaced Chandan Das with Douglas, despite the latter clearly being far from match-fit. The Brazilian had landed in the city only Saturday afternoon, and surely needed more time to adapt. Yet, he tried his bit to supply balls for Bhaichung and to Alvito D’ Cunha. Helped ably by Malsawmtluanga, East Bengal started launching attacks one after the other. Several times they reached the goalmouth but failed to come up with the equaliser. </div>
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In the meantime, Wilson’s withdrawal in the 58th minute helped East Bengal to get hold of the midfield and swing the game in their favour. But they had to wait till the 71st minute to restore parity. </div>
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Malsawmtluanga was tripped just outside the box and East Bengal got a free-kick. Douglas’ left footer swerved in to find the net, after a soft deflection off a Mohun Bagan defender. <br />
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“The difference was that Sunil Chhetri put Bagan ahead through a creative strike while Douglas’ equaliser from a free kick was a fluke goal,” Subrata said.</div>
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He directed all his ire at the referee. “I’m not at all satisfied with the referee. The referee is solely responsible for the draw,” Subrata added, not willing to go into details. “Why did the IFA suddenly decide on a city referee to officiate the game despite all the talk about the Goan presence,” Subrata asked. </div>
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Presumably both Chhetri and Douglas were happy after scoring their maiden goals in a derby clash. </div>
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“I had never been on the first XI in any derby clash before. So it gives me lot of pleasure to have scored the lone goal in my first appearance for my team today,” Chhetri said.<b> </b></div>
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Douglas, who arrived on Saturday, said: “It has always been my dream to score against Mohun Bagan and I achieved it today,” Douglas said. According to the Brazilian, East Bengal have lot of scope for improvement. </div>
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For Bhutia, Sunday’s performance will act as a catalyst before their trip to Leicester city. “I am quite satisfied with the way we have played but we need to improve our passing and fitness in course of time,” Bhaichung said.</div>
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There remains many grey areas to be taken care of. Bhowmick will have to take special care of his defence, while Bhattacharya must look for a striker. Both sides are on seven points after three outings. </div>
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TEAMS </div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan: </b>Prasanta Dora, Dulal Biswas, Mehrazuddin Wadao, Palash Karmakar, Eduardo Coelho, Rishi Kapoor, Tomba Singh (Manas Das 69), Noel Wilson (Abhay Kumar 58), Dharamjit Singh, Ashim Biswas, Sunil Chhetri (Jerry Zirsanga 74). </div>
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<b>East Bengal: </b>Sangram Mukherjee, Syed Hussain (Shylo Malsawmtluanga 35), Selwyn Fernandez, Louis Aniweta, Dipak Mondal, Sashti Duley, Syed Rahim Nabi, Climax Lawrence (Dipankar Roy 64), Alvito D’Cunha, Chandan Das (Douglas da Silva 46), Bhaichung Bhutia. </div>
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<b>Referee:</b> Subrata Sarkar.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040719/asp/sports/story_3513589.asp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040719/asp/sports/story_3513589.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-65234642364963890682013-06-25T04:23:00.002-07:002013-08-09T17:34:38.521-07:00Mohun Bagan 0-0 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2004-05<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong>11.9.04,</strong> <b>Calcutta:</b> Subhas Bhowmick took the idea of treating the Super Division derby as a practice match for next week's AFC Cup quarter final too seriously. He accorded Mohun Bagan the same respect as he would Syria's Al Jaish and ended up with a solitary point, when he could have actually picked up the full compliment of three.</div>
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Subrata Bhattacharya dared to be bolder, his well-oiled midfield having the defensive-minded East Bengal unit on the run for almost the entire first session. They ran out of steam after change of ends, as the rains pelted down and Bhowmick's men came out of their shell.<br />
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In the end, a goalless scoreline perhaps did justice to both teams, though East Bengal could consider themselves a trifle unlucky. An 84th-minute Shylo Malsawmtluanga push hit the base of the crosspiece and stayed put in the puddle before being cleared by Mehrajuddin Wadao, while referee Subrata Sarkar who had a forgettable match overlooked a Mohun Bagan (Tapan Ghosh) hand-ball inside the penalty box 19 minutes into the game.</div>
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The date being 9/11, fingers remained crossed as nearly 70,000 die-hards settled in the stands. Something had to give way, and the heavens opened up like nobody's business. The sweet tinge of green, pre-kick off, soon gave way as 22 pair of boots tortured the Salt Lake Stadium turf.</div>
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Mohun Bagan called the shots with Dharamjit Singh, Mehtab Hussain and Sunil Chhetri running the East Bengal defence ragged. Syed Rahim Nabi, a striker thrust into the role of right-back, had a harrowing time keeping tabs on the speedy Dharamjit. The usually reliable Debjit Ghosh wasn't rock-solid, neither was Louis Aniweta.<br />
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The man East Bengal depend on so much these days Douglas da Silva had his mind elsewhere. The Brazilian, cautioned for a nasty tackle, was lucky not to be sent off after arguing with the referee at the slightest provocation. Even Alvito D'Cunha had an off-day, and had to be taken off after an hour.</div>
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Five minutes after kick-off, Dharamjit set up Mehtab with a nice little square pass. Turning quickly and seeing Sangram Mukherjee out of position, Mehtab let go an angular left-footer. It curved in wickedly and Sangram reacted in the nick of time to palm the ball away.</div>
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Debutant Nigerian Suleiman Hamid, finding the underfoot conditions too heavy for his liking, got hold of a free ball a little later and moved up a few paces before being dispossessed by an Aniweta sliding tackle. On the half-hour, Hamid trapped a Mehtab offering but shot in haste straight into Sangram's hands. Mehtab and Dharamjit, on two separate occasions, sent in inviting crosses into the danger zone but neither Hamid nor Chhetri was in position to meet the ball.</div>
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East Bengal looked threatening just twice in the entire opening session. In what was the best move of the match, Malsawmtluanga fooled Eduardo and Rishi Kapoor and sent in a measured cross only for Bijen Singh to send his header over the crosspiece.<br />
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Then Sashthi Duley, in one of his rare attacking forays, floated one in from the left, but Douglas glancing header went wide of the second post.</div>
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The introduction of the energetic Dipankar Roy brought about a sense of urgency in the East Bengal ranks. He almost did the trick with his first touch of the ball, just failing to direct a Climax Lawrence through into the net.</div>
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Nabi ventured up front more often as Dharamjit was tired and Malsawmtluanga showed some enterprise to test the Mohun Bagan defence. East Bengal, unlike in the first half, pushed more men into the Mohun Bagan citadel to support Bijen.</div>
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Climax tried a snap right-footer from about 22 yards out which caught Subrata Pal off guard but missed the mark narrowly. Douglas failed miserably with a direct free-kick, from just five yards outside the penalty box.</div>
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East Bengal did exert considerable pressure in the final half-hour, but it was too late. The Mohun Bagan defence, ably led by Palash Karmakar and Eduardo, soaked it all up and took home a point which helped them maintain their lead top of the table.</div>
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<b>TEAMS</b></div>
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<b>Mohun Bagan</b>: Subrata Pal, Dulal Biswas, Palash Karmakar (Manitombi Singh, 77), Eduardo Coelho, Tapan Ghosh (Mehrajuddin Wadao, 46), Rishi Kapoor, Tomba Singh, Mehtab Hussain (Basudeb Mondal, 62), Dharamjit Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Suleiman Hamid.</div>
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<b>East Bengal</b>: Sangram Mukherjee, Syed Rahim Nabi, Debjit Ghosh, Dipak Mondal, Louis Aniweta, Sasthi Duley, S. Malsawmtluanga, Climax Lawrence, Douglas da Silva, Alvito D'Cunha (Dipankar Roy, 59), Bijen Singh.</div>
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<b>Referee</b>: Subrata Sarkar.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040912/asp/sports/story_3747823.asp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040912/asp/sports/story_3747823.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863634989913899936.post-57781814667443994102013-06-25T04:10:00.000-07:002013-10-05T15:29:35.090-07:00Mohun Bagan 1-1 (7-6) East Bengal : IFA Shield 2004<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong>8.10.04,</strong> <b>Calcutta: </b>History revisited Salt Lake Stadium and East Bengal once again found themselves on the wrong side of the penalty shootout drama as they lost to Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield semi-final 8-7 on Friday. <br />
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On September 28 last year, Prasanta Dora was also there under the bar and blocked M. Suresh's shot helping Mohun Bagan lift the crown. </div>
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On Friday, the same man, certainly matured by another year, came in the way of Surya Bikash Chakraborty as well as East Bengal's hopes, leading the team to Sunday's summit-clash with Myanmar Finance and Revenue FC. <br />
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Quite a few things have changed for the winners since that September 28 evening. Jose Ramirez Barreto had left the club while Subrata Bhattacharya replaced Aloke Mukherjee as the coach. Something, on the other hand, didn't move at all for the losers: absence of Bhaichung Bhutia (who was in Malaysia at that time), their lament for depletion in key areas, one red-card (Alvito D'Cunha was thrown out last time) and the all-important nemesis in the form of Dora. </div>
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History hardly matched its reappearance so acutely. </div>
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About one year down the line, there was, however, no dearth of drama in the match, held under light. Two penalties (one missed), a power failure (forcing the game to be held up for 22 minutes) and East Bengal goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar's ejection from the action (double booking), much to his coach's displeasure. All this was what made the derby so special, so joyous for someone and so heartbreaking for the other. </div>
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Then give damn to the tactics and strategies. It's this moving tale of dramatic turns and twists, induced and influenced by the derby pressure, that lingers. </div>
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Roberto Mendes Silva Beto put the defending champions into lead in the 40th minute when he converted the penalty-kick after Louis Aniweta handled the ball while challenging the Brazilian. </div>
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Three minutes later it could have been 1-1 as Shylo Malsawmtluanga earned East Bengal another spot-kick decision (though quite dubious) from the referee Binod Kumar Singh. Paolo, Beto's answer in the East Bengal camp, missed the opportunity. The equaliser eventually came in the 60th minute. As Paolo's header off a Surya Bikash chip came back into play after hitting the crossbar, Malsawmtluanga snapped up the rebound. </div>
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The match went on, sometimes in fast pace, sometimes going through motion, with opportunities gained and lost till the decision came in the shootout. Beto, Eduardo Coelho, Noel Wilson, Amit Das, Ashim Biswas, Mehtab Hussain and Dulal Biswas were spot-on, keeping the pressure on the rivals. East Bengal matched it blow by blow with Paolo, Climax Lawrence, Sasthi Duley, Madhab Das, Malsawmtluanga and Aniweta found the target. On the seventh occasion, it was Surya Bikash's turn and Dora rightly gauged his shot and saved it to the celebration of his teammates. </div>
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It was, indeed, Bhattacharya's reward to the supporters. But the coach and his wards are yet to cross the final hurdle and better remember the fact that since that September 28 evening, no trophy have come their way. </div>
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Beto, however, committed criminal mistakes when he shot off the target with just the goalkeeper to beat on two of the easiest chances in the match. So did Paolo as Dora outclassed him in one-to-one situations at least three times. </div>
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All this happened in a ground that was in poor conditions, as much as the referee's supervision. Apart from Rajat's marching order, he flashed the yellow cards eight times, some of them really arguable. That included the penalty for East Bengal. </div>
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<b><b>TEAMS </b></b></div>
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<b><b>Mohun Bagan</b></b>: Prasanta Dora; Dulal Biswas, Mehrajuddin Wadao, Eduardo Coelho, Rishi Kapoor (Abhay Kumar 64); Mehtab Hussain, Basudeb Mondal (Ashim Biswas 73), Noel Wilson, Dharamjit Singh, Sunil Chhetri (Amit Das 90+2); Roberto Mendes Silva Beto. </div>
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<b>East Bengal:</b> Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Madhab Das, Debjit Ghosh, Louis Aniweta, Sasthi Duley, Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Chandan Das (Bhola Prasad 81), Dipankar Roy (Amar Deb 85), Climax Lawrence, Bijen Singh (Surya Bikash Chakraborty 54), Paolo Roberto da Silva. </div>
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<b>Referee</b>: Binod Kumar Singh.</div>
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Source : <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041009/asp/sports/story_3861242.asp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041009/asp/sports/story_3861242.asp</a></div>
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Hrisavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09351077821159116270noreply@blogger.com0