Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2004-05

18.7.04, Calcutta: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

Presumably both Chhetri and Douglas were happy after scoring their maiden goals in a derby clash.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: 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).

East Bengal: 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.

Referee: Subrata Sarkar.

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040719/asp/sports/story_3513589.asp

Mohun Bagan 0-0 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 2004-05

11.9.04, Calcutta: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: 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.

East Bengal: 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.

Referee: Subrata Sarkar.

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040912/asp/sports/story_3747823.asp

Mohun Bagan 1-1 (7-6) East Bengal : IFA Shield 2004

8.10.04, Calcutta: 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.

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.

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.

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.

History hardly matched its reappearance so acutely.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: 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.

East Bengal: 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.

Referee: Binod Kumar Singh.

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041009/asp/sports/story_3861242.asp

East Bengal 2-1 Mohun Bagan : Durand Cup Final 2004

10.11.04, New Delhi: East Bengal captain Chandan Das could not have asked for a more fitting present ahead of his wedding than the Durand Cup. Moreover, both goals came from his feet as 10-man East Bengal defeated Mohun Bagan 2-1 to claim the Durand title for the 16th time on Wednesday.

Chandan, who is getting married on November 17, scored a goal in each half, a 22nd minute penalty and an injury time dream goal. He became the second player after Mohammed Habib (1970) to score two goals in an East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Durand final. The captain also finished top-scorer for his club with four goals.

It was the red-and-gold outfit's first title of the season. And with this win they also revenged themselves, having lost the Durand final the last time they clashed in 1994.

East Bengal custodian Rajat Ghosh Dastidar joined a select group of players to have won the Durand with three different clubs (Mohun Bagan 2000, Salgaocar 2003 and East Bengal 2004).

Others who have achieved the feat include Peter Thangaraj, Syed Nayeemuddin, Shyam Thapa, I.M. Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri.

Ironically last season, the national champions had to submit to Rajat, who stopped two penalties off Bhaichung Bhutia and Mike Okoro in the shoot-out to help Salgaocar win the Durand title 4-3.

And once again he turned out to be the hero. He brought about some brilliant saves to stop the green-and-maroon players who were threatening to run away with the game at one point of time.

It was a triumph of character and passion for the champions. East Bengal did not play fluent attacking football but still managed to grind out a result. East Bengal's intentions were clear, stop Bagan's attacking midfielders and then move up on the counter.

But, when Madhab was shown the red card (following two bookable offences) in the 75th minute, Mohun Bagan held sway. And it was during this period that they scored the equaliser. A free-kick by Noel Wilson was unfortunately headed into his own goal by Douglas da Silva in the 76th minute with the keeper stranded.

The red-and-gold players benefited with the return of coach Subhas Bhowmick, who joined the team only on Tuesday night. Down by a man, he marshalled his men well to finally come up triumphs.

Earlier, the coach made an important switch, replacing Selwyn Fernandez, who was suffering from stomach upset, with Climax Lawrence just after the breather. And it was Climax's final touch that paved way for Chandan to secure the winner.

Jeremiah trapped a long clearance and drifted to the left before squaring on to Climax at the edge of the box. Climax held on and then squared it to Chandan, who was darting in on the right side of the box. From an acute angle, Chandan let fly a blistering, rising right-footer which bulged the far corner of the net.

Bagan were let down by their foreign imports. Striker James Ugwo could not cope with the pressure of a derby match and Eduardo Coelho got injured. Both had to be replaced within 40 minutes. Coelho's absence in defence was a big blow to the team.

It was Noel Wilson's error in the 22nd minute that led to East Bengal's opening goal. A corner was played short and Shylo Malsawmtluanga floated a cross to the far post. Douglas headed across the goal. Bagan defenders panicked and failed to clear the ball out of the box. Alvito D'Cunha, rushing in to take a shot was nudged from behind by Noel and referee P.K. Bose promptly awarded a penalty which Chandan converted.

The final was a battle of attrition, with lots of niggling fouls. Referee Bose struggled to keep control of proceedings. There was a fracas midway through the second half, when Bagan custodian Subrata Paul raced down the field to strike Jeremiah who had clashed with Noel. Both Subrata and Noel were shown yellow cards.

East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick said after the final Wednesday that his team had dedicated their Durand Cup triumph to Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy, the two players who are just out on bail after spending a week in jail in connection with their association with a hardcore criminal in Calcutta.

Meanwhile, the Durand committee felicitated five promising players in the tournament. Narendra Meetei (striker, Air India), T. Abdul Basheer (defender, SBT), Subrata Paul (goalkeeper, Mohun Bagan), Sukhjinder Singh (midfielder, JCT) and L. Mark Fernandez (midfielder, TFA).

TEAMS

East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Akshay Das (Bijen Singh 85), Debjit Ghosh, Madhab Das, Selwyn Fernandez (Climax Lawrence 52), Habibur Rehman Mondal, Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Douglas da Silva, Chandan Das, Alvito D'Cunha and Ernest Jeremiah.

Mohun Bagan: Subrata Paul, Manitombi Singh, Dulal Biswas, Eduardo Coelho (Tomba Singh 40), Rishi Kapoor, Mehtab Hussain, Noel Wilson, Basudeb Mondal, Dharamjit Singh (Jerry Zirsanga 66), James Ugwo (Ashim Biswas 40) and Sunil Chhetri

Referee: P.K. Bose (Madhya Pradesh)

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041111/asp/sports/story_3991756.asp

East Bengal 0-0 Mohun Bagan : National Football League 2004-05

12.1.05, Calcutta: It happens like this only. They set a stage, far too big for the production and then spread their cast around, thinly, moving awkwardly in directions astern, mostly. Then, an hour and-a-half and shrill catcalls later, they blame the everybody else.

Thats how it happened, in the opening match of the National Football League, at the Salt Lake Stadium Wednesday.

Its just not football, surely not that beautiful game Pele was referring to. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal played goalless, directionless, and classless. And it all had to start with the Prime Minister of the country Dr Manmohan Singh, kicking a ball into the goal, and blessing the soccer fraternity to bigger, better goals from the ONGC Cup. The irony of it all was in the marching order given to Chandan Das of East Bengal, and to the referee did us in refrain re-emerging.

Nobody seemed amused, also, when a panel of experts decided East Bengal's Syed Rahim Nabi was Man of the Match. Even the untrained eye could see Mohun Bagan's Noel Wilson, their goalkeeper Prasanta Dora, even East Bengal goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee do better in this Cristiano de Lima Junior benefit match.

The match itself saw many hits and misses. The hits saw eight players booked by K. Shankar (Tamil Nadu), the referee of World Cup fame. Chandan Das drew two of them and was thrown out of the field in the 66th minute. Of the misses, the Rahim Nabi one in the second minute (turning one off the back of his head into goal while teammate Ernest Chukwuma Jeremiah's infringement was clear) had an interesting comment from a club official. We will send the video of the match to the AFC!

Bhaichung Bhutia was visibly uncomfortable on the ground, slow, hardly useful. East Bengal Coach Subhas Bhowmick, however, found streaks of brilliance in the trudge.

Football was scattered, sometimes up the middle, sometimes sliding down the wings, sometimes in long-ball advances. Everything was tried. But Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya's desire to give his fans some hope went down the drain. He badly wanted to win. One believes he simply wished for a victory, not craved for one.

The 50,000-odd strong crowd wasnt very sure they werent watching a friendly. Referee Shankar's booking of Nabi, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Douglas da Silva and Das (twice), all of East Bengal and Dulal Biswas, Mehraj ud-din Wadao, Eduardo Coelho and Dharamjit Singh Mohun Bagan, dispelled those doubts.

Count the misses: Twenty-one minutes into the match Mohun Bagan's Dharamjit's flag-kick reached the goalmouth, relayed by Roberto Mendes Silva Beto before Eduardo Coelho tapped out from close. Twelve minutes later Beto trapped one in the box and relayed goalwards, quickly, goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee saving. Two minutes passed, and Beto is back in the East Bengal defensive third, back-centring for Tomba Singh to drive into a diving Sangram.

It wasnt so biased, really. Four minutes from the break, at the other end, Das missed from inside the box. The goalkeepers earned their paycheques for the day, though.

East Bengal's Shylo Malsawmtluanga added to the misses tally, his 55th-minute volley from just inside the box being fisted over for a corner by Dora.

Then Nabi gave all the goose flesh. Twelve minutes to time, off a throw-in, Nabi shot over and missed from where few can. Dora punched to safety again when a Douglas free-kick dipped after clearing the wall. The derby stalls were closed, finally.

The Salt Lake Stadium was a sea of security personnel Wednesday. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was scheduled to inaugurate the National Football League for the ONGC Cup and traffic snarls and aimless waits and body searches were scheduled as well.

The Prime Minister wasnt the only VVIP on the dais Wednesday. AIFF president and Union minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi had gathered along with the sponsorship of the league from ONGC chairman Subir Raha's table defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, state governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee as well as the PM's wife, Mrs Amrit Kaur.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: Prasanta Dora, Dulal Biswas, Mehraj ud-din Wadao, Eduardo Coelho, Mehtab Hussein, Tomba Singh, Basudeb Mondal (Jo Paul Ancheri, 79), Noel Wilson, Dharamjit Singh, Roberto Mendes Silva Beto (Jerry Zirsanga, 50), Ashim Biswas.

East Bengal: Sangram Mukherjee, Syed Rahim Nabi, Selwyn Fernandes, Habibur Rehman Mondal (Madhab Das, 84), Douglas da Silva, Sasthi Duley (Shylo Malsawmtluanga, 41), Chandan Das, Climax Lawrence, Ernest Chukwuma Jeremiah, Alvito D'Cunha, Bhaichung Bhutia.

Referee: K. Shankar (Tamil Nadu).

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050113/asp/sports/story_4247450.asp

Mohun Bagan 0-1 East Bengal : National Football League 2004-05

24.4.05, Calcutta: A combination of good fortune and strong will gave East Bengal the desired result on a muggy Sunday afternoon at the Salt Lake Stadium.

As for Mohun Bagan, there was no change in their slide down relegation street in the National Football League (NFL) for the ONGC Cup.

There are four tough matches still to go for East Bengal (Mahindra and Salgaocar among them) but right now, they are perched atop the standings with a one-point advantage over Sporting Clube de Goa. Mohun Bagan, who haven't won a game in the last 10 rounds, are in ninth spot with three to play.

A Syed Rahim Nabi header fetched the red-and-golds the million-dollar goal after 75 minutes. As Man-of-the-Match Alvito D'Cunha curled in a routine left-footed cross, Eduardo Coelho stood mesmerised for reasons only he can explain. Nabi, who along with Sashthi Duley was planning to skip the game to answer office calls, pounced on the godsent opportunity to nod in with all the time in the world.

Ironically, the Mohun Bagan defence had withstood the limited East Bengal pressure rather well till then. Ajibade Babalade, who at times looks the world's ugliest defender, was, for a change, a tower of strength. With Bhaichung Bhutia absent and Ernest Jeremiah operating from a little deep, the big Nigerian had no problems in stymying Juliano Martins' threat.

East Bengal's sluggish approach in the first 45 minutes was paradoxical. The title-hunters almost played into their rivals' hands as they looked devoid of energy and purpose, with even Shylo Malsawmtluanga and Nabi a shadow of their normally lively self. But for an acrobatic effort by Juliano and a trademark through ball from Alvito, which the Brazilian made a mess of, there was nothing worth talking about.

Mohun Bagan, opting for the tried and tested rather than risk Pravin Rawat and Palash Karmakar, showed positive intentions in the first part of the game. Tomba Singh strode the middle of the park with authority, Mehtab Hussain and Basudeb Mondal lent support while Roberto Mendes Silva Beto produced some delicate touches.

Beto, in fact, should have scored in the 15th minute. He himself was the creator, evading a double-challenge, playing a one-two with Tomba and taking up position at the top of the box, only to direct his right-footer a couple of feet over the bar. Minutes later, the Brazilian then failed to connect an inviting Mehtab free-kick six yards from the goal.

Quarter of an hour into the contest, misfortune struck Mohun Bagan. A Basudeb chip struck Debjit Ghosh's hands deep into the penalty box. There couldn't have been a more genuine case for a penalty, but the referee Benjamin Silva ignored the green-and-maroons' passionate pleas.

If that was the Goan referee's sole blunder of the day, he committed at least three more mistakes. On two of those occasions, he could have awarded penalties one on either side. The first case was Nabi pushing Mehtab off possession with the Mohun Bagan medio threatening to score. Then there was a role-reversal as Nabi got disbalanced by Mehtab's touch and missed out nodding the ball into a yawning goal.

Mr Silva, who seemed to have forgotten something called the advantage rule, also erred in not sending off Bijen Singh when he hacked down Mehrajuddin Wadao. The East Bengal striker, who had replaced Juliano five minutes earlier, got away with a booking.

East Bengal's wake-up call came after change of ends and it was Alvito who showed the way with some searing runs and incisive passing. Jeremiah and Duley got into the act too, pushing Babalade & Co. to the limit.

A crafty Jeremiah left-footer from about 25 yards out was well palmed away by Subrata Pal. The young Mohun Bagan goalkeeper also kept out a Climax Lawrence flick after the latter had been set up by a clever Bijen lob.

East Bengal were, for the first time, looking hungry. The goal came not long after as Mohun Bagan maintained their tradition of caving in towards the closing stages of a match.

Subrata Bhattacharya had gone through this ordeal. It's the turn of veteran Dutta to live through the pain now.

TEAMS

East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Selwyn Fernandes, M. Suresh, Debjit Ghosh, Sashthi Duley, Syed Rahim Nabi, S. Malsawmtluanga (Bijen Singh, 54), Climax Lawrence, Ernest Jeremiah, Alvito D'Cunha (Sandip Das, 80), Juliano Martins (Dipankar Roy, 62).

Mohun Bagan: Subrata Pal, Manitombi Singh, Ajibade Babalade, Eduardo Coelho, Rishi Kapoor, Mehrajuddin Wadao, Mehtab Hussain, Basudeb Mondal (Palash Karmakar, 46), Tomba Singh, Sunil Chhetri (Jerry Zirsanga, 59), Roberto Mendes Silva 'Beto.

Referee: Benjamin Silva (Goa).

Here is the match video :

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050425/asp/sports/story_4657880.asp

Mohun Bagan 1-0 East Bengal : Calcutta Football League 1st Leg 2005-06

18.8.05, Calcutta: By saying that Mohun Bagan’s 1-0 victory over arch-rivals East Bengal was an upset, one might miss out on the vastness of its significance.

By saying that the matchwinner Gley Yao Rodrigue’s story followed one of those I-came-I-saw-I-conquered scripts, might not capture the pleasure of watching the promise of a foreign striker.

By saying that East Bengal had to suffer from one of those days when nothing went their way ' including captain Dipankar Roy’s failure to convert from the spot-kick ' would be an injustice to the way Mohun Bagan rose to the occasion or from the ashes, much like Michael Vaughan & Co. is now making their presence felt in the Australian camp.

It’s something that people love to watch and discuss with the posterity. Thursday’s CFL Premier League clash at the Salt Lake Stadium is sure to be added to Mohun Bagan’s archive. No doubt about this.

And how things turned around ever since Mohun Bagan made their first constructive attack towards the rival box. Arun Malhotra and Gurpreet Singh remained immobile allowing Manjit Singh to penetrate the area till Covan Lawrence came in the way with a timely tackle in the 17th minute. But there was Rodrigue waiting around the top box.

East Bengal defenders once again didn’t offer any challenge to the Togo World Cupper and his left-footer took a mild deflection off Lawrence and found the net through near post.

It just started a spectacle of free-flowing movement among the men in green-and-maroon jersey and reached a new height in the second-half when East Bengal showed the urgency to equalise. Before that Dipankar made a mess of a penalty kick, with two minutes to go from the breather.

The British referee Dave Richards, who officiated the match quite efficiently, was spot-on while awarding the spot-kick to the defending champions after Eduardo Coelho handed the ball in clearing a Jatin Bisht free-kick.

Dipankar must have been confused (as later vouchsafed by Mohun Bagan coach Amal Dutta) by the scene of goalkeeper Subrata Pal constantly jumping on the line. He struck outside to his right.

As Dipankar missed, Alvito D’Cunha was already leaving the ground, yielding his place to Shylo Malsawmtluanga.

Predictably East Bengal made their attacking intentions clear soon after the break. Sanjay Parte blocked Dipankar in the nick of time and Bisht’s 30-yard free-kick missed the target by inches.

Chandan Das replaced Dipankar in the 56th minute and it turned out to be a bad move. Chandan looked slow, a foil to East Bengal’s need to speed up the push for a goal.

On so many occasions in the last season, East Bengal mastered their traditional rivals. But this Mohun Bagan were ready to pay proper value to their lead. Their defence stood the test of East Bengal’s bursts.

It’s at that time Dutta’s system saw developing into some wonderful counter-moves. Two of them found Rodrigue absolutely clear inside the box and East Bengal goalkeeper Naseem Akhtar effected smothering saves on both occasions.

Subhas Bhowmick brought in I.M. Vijayan at that time. But with Mohun Bagan outnumbering the rivals on counter attacks hands down, it was always danger lurking in the red-and-gold area.

Tomba Singh and Dharamjit Singh were scorching the wings and Rodrigue left his markers Gurpreet Singh and Covan Lawrence clueless whenever he had the ball in his control.

One sweeping move after another seemed to be submerging East Bengal defence and had Akhtar not produced something spectacular, Rodrigue could have completed his hattrick and Dharamjit would have found himself on the scorers’ list.

Well, Bhowmick will be leaving now for updating his coaching lessons on foreign lands, leaving the task to his assistant Bikash Panji.

The latter, no doubt, will have a steep mountain to climb to make it four in a row in the local league because this Mohun Bagan side promises to deliver more such wonders under Dutta.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: Subrata Pal; Sanjay Parte, Mehrajuddin Wadao, Eduardo Coelho, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Tomba Singh (Jerry Zirsanga 85), Mehtab Hussain, Noel Wilson, Dharamjit Singh, Manjeet Singh (Basudeb Mondal 71), Gley Yao Rodrigue.

East Bengal: Naseem Akhtar; Sasthi Duley, Covan Lawrence, Arun Malhotra, Gurpreet Singh, Debabrata Roy, Dipankar Roy (Chandan Das 56), Bernard Pires, Jatin Bisht (I.M. Vijayan 67), Alvito D’Cunha (Shylo Malsawmtluanga 43), Syed Rahim Nabi.

Referee: Dave Roberts.

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050819/asp/sports/story_5130931.asp