The prestigious Kolkata Derby was done and dusted in just 45 minutes. The script was written on the wall in 14th minute when Vishal Kaith brilliantly saved the penalty taken by Cleiton Silva. The plan was for East Bengal to get a early lead and defend it with all their might but when they lost that opportunity the whole scenario changed. It was really surprising to see that a coach like Carles Cuadrat didn’t have a alternative plan for their gameplay.
Mohun Bagan began the match with all guns blazing from very first minute. They were using both the wings with double support. Both Manvir and Liston were constantly pushing their fullbacks back and with their ability to cutback and Petratos constantly switched the wings for support, East Bengal was looking flabbergasted. Mohun Bagan started the game with 3-5-2 but mostly operating as 3-4-3. East Bengal also fielded 3 centre backs on the field as Hijazi, Pantic and Chunglunga but they were surprisingly put Lal as a right full back rather than a right centre back. I thought it was a mistake as Chunglunga neither deliver something to the attacking third nor he able to track back on time to cater the threat of Liston and Petratos on right hand side. Eventually the first goal was came on 27th minute when a aimless ball from Kauko hurriedly clear by East Bengal defender Pantic on the feet of Sahal and Sahal lob the ball to Petratos who are running beside him. Petratos then took a snapshot which was not dealt very well by Prabhsukhan Gill and the fox in the box Cummings was waiting for that opportunity to tap in it to the net (1-0).
After the first goal Mohun Bagan midfield led by Avishek, Kauko and Sahal took full control and recover almost every second ball from their opponent. They put more and more pressure on East Bengal and second goal came after the cooling break when Petratos cut back from the right hand side and took a grounder from his left foot the ball was hit the post and came back to him. He then cross the ball from his right foot to the unmarked Liston Colaco who makes no mistake to put it into the net and double the lead (2-0). The third goal came on the added minute of the first half when Liston again making a run inside the box to catch a ball from Petratos and Nandakumar tripped him. Referee made no mistake this time to award the first ever Penalty for Mohun Bagan in this year’s Indian Super League. Nanda was forced to play as right full back as Chunglunga was injured and carried out from the field. Petratos unlike Cleiton made no mistake to convert the Penalty and increase the lead to a 3-0. When fans were expecting more pressure from Mohun Bagan in the second half, East Bengal made two vital changes. Sayan Banerjee introduced inplace of Lalchunglunga and P. Vishnu inplace of Ajay Chhetri who hardly made any impact. With these changes East Bengal go all out to recover some respect. But Mohun Bagan did get a chance at the beginning of the second half when Jason Cummings was tripped inside the box by Nishu Kumar but surprisingly referee overlooked the incident and denied the opportunity to increase the score. In next minute Cummings took another shot from inside the box which was denied by acrobatic Prabhsukhan. East Bengal with Vishnu and Sayan put more pressure on the wings and finally put one goal back on 53 minute. Cleiton Silva this made a brilliant diagonal ball for Saul Crespo who was advancing from his position towards the box. Saul brilliantly chested down the ball and took a first time volley while going into the ground and made the score (3-1). Cleiton get another golden opportunity on 63rd minute when his header from 6 yard box was brilliantly saved by Vishal. That save was unarguably the best save of this year ISL. Mohun Bagan absorbing the pressure from East Bengal and denied any further scoring opportunity. They also made some necessary changes they introduce Anirudh Thapa inplace of Jason Cummings and put Ashish Rai in place of Liston. This made their formation to 4-5-1 as Petratos being the lone striker upfront. In that passage of time East Bengal dictate the terms on the midfield and constantly winning all the second ball from Mohun Bagan. Finally, Armando Sadiku was introduced inplace of Sahal and with Saul being subbed off they feel some fresh air for the remainder of the match. Sadiku as a holding striker did manage to manipulate couple of chances from the mistakes of East Bengal players but couldn’t really capitalize the opportunity.
The Mariners with this thumping victory are now top of the ISL points table and will be facing Kerala Blasters on Wednesday the 13th. With this Derby victory they are now high in confidence but it will always be a tough encounter against Blasters at their own backyard. Although the total attendance of the Kolkata Derby was 59,845, but majority of the spectators were from the Mohun Bagan section. The members of the Mariners Base Camp Ultras group were also made the day very special with their Corteo alongwith Pyro show before starting of the game and were very vocal on the stand. Mohun Bagan coach Antonio Lopez Habas was extremely relaxed after the victory and said to concentrate on the next match rather than the points table. The saga of Kolkata Derby for the season is over and Mariners are happy to end it with a winning note.
Mohun Bagan will face another high voltage match in less than 72 hrs against mighty Kerala Blasters. After they registered their win in Kolkata Derby, they are now sitting top of the ISL points table with 36 points from 17 matches. Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters are currently in 5th position with 29 points from 17 matches 7 points behind Mohun Bagan. Blasters seemed to lost their blistering form after Indian Super League resumes. In last 5 matches they have registered just one win and lost rest of the matches. They have managed a fascinating come back against FC Goa. After down by 2 early goals they have managed to score 4 goals against them. But when they thought the drought was finally over, they again face the defeat in Kanteerava against Bengaluru in their last match. Mohun Bagan after derby win are high on confidence but they have to put their best to overcome the noisy atmosphere at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi.
As we have observed the approach of Antonio Lopez Habas in away games he will definitely put 4 back line with Dipak Tangri as a defensive blocker in the midfield. They need to take each match as a potential final to cement their place on top. Mohun Bagan are currently in lethal form in counter attack and they may fancy to break the vulnerable defense of Kerala Blasters who had conceded 9 goals in their last five matches mainly because of poor defensive transition. Kerala will miss Rahul KP and Naocha Singh because of suspension. But they got a talented player like Aimen in the wings who is in good form. After the unfortunate loss of Adrian Luna because of injury their results heavily depend on the shoulder of Dimitrios Diamantakos who had already scored 10 goals in this year ISL. The man already scored against Mohun Bagan in the first leg at Salt Lake. Mohun Bagan forwards are among the goalscoring form as they have scored 11 goals in their last 5 matches and conceded just 3 goals. After taking the charge of Mohun Bagan the main focus of Habas was to re-construct the defensive orientation of the team and that paying dividend now. In football it was always told that your defense win the title for you. Mohun Bagan playing a proper team game and players like Kauko, Sahal, Petratos are currently top of their game. The match will be an emotional encounter for Sahal Abdul Samad, the local boy played there for 5 years before joining Mohun Bagan this season. Sahal will face Kerala Blasters as his opponent, first time in his career.
The match going to be a block buster one. Although the attendance of Kochi went down in last couple of matches but when they face Mohun Bagan the Stadium will be jam packed. Kerala Blasters are currently sitting right at the middle of the table when their qualification to the playoff is almost secure but the race to the top is far from reach. Mohun Bagan on the other hand need to secure the three points to maintain the top position. The match will start at 7:30 PM and our Mariners Kerala the Mariners Base Camp wings will be present in the gallery.
Line-up Prediction:
Kick off Time: 7:30PM(IST)
Live telecast/streaming: JioCinema, Sports18 3, DD Bangla, OneFootball(International)
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi
