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Played
November 20, 2011 6:30 PM IST
Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) — Kalkātā (Kolkata), West Bengal
November 20, 2011 6:30 PM IST
Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) — Kalkātā (Kolkata), West Bengal
Mohun Bagan - East Bengal Preview: The Two Kolkata Giants Clash In The First Derby Of The Season
East Bengal look to end Mohun Bagan's winning form at home and continue coach Morgan's unbeaten derby record. Bagan look to seize the opportunity to close the gap on Dempo...
By Kaustav Bera
derby
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PROBABLE LINEUPS |
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MOHUN BAGAN  Sangram Surkumar, Debnath, Zeleny, Dhanarajan Nabi, Barreto, Jewel, Snehashish Odafa Chhetri |
EAST BENGAL
 Sandip Naoba, Nirmal, Okpara, Robert Vashum, Suhsant,Penn, Sanju Gow, Robin |
The season's first Kolkata Derby is finally upon us. With the city's two biggest clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan ready to lock horns, this promises a fascinating encounter, bolstered by the fact that more than one lakh and twenty thousand fans will be cheering both teams on at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan, packed to the gills.
The Derby is a thing from another planet, with season form and table positions all thrown out of the window. It is all about the passion, the passion which is buyoyed by supporters who cheer on their players and expect nothing but a win, and that too a comfortable one!
Mohun Bagan enjoy a slender edge of 2 points over East Bengal but technical director Subrata Bhattacharya has vowed to go all out to earn the three points with Mohun Bagan deemed as the home team for this encounter. And they need the win to keep pace with runaway leaders Dempo.
Prasanta Banerjee looks to welcome back the marksman Odafa Okolie and Snehashish Chakraborty to the first team. Daniel Zeleny, the new Australian central defender has been registered on time and looks to make his debut. And what a debut that is against Bagan's fierce rivals.
Bagan will miss the services of India defender, Anwar Ali though who picked up an injury on India duty against Malaysia. Also missing will be Brazilian winger, Hudson Lima.
Trevor Morgan however has to do without star striker Tolgay Ozebe who misses out after being suspended. The ever dependable Mehtab Hussain also looks set to miss out due to injury. However Penn Orji's spectacular form at the heart of East Bengal's midfield and Sanju Pradhan's darting runs are a plus for East Bengal going into the derby. The supporters will look to Alan Gow and Robin Singh for getting them the goals.
The match is being billed as Mohun Bagan's star studded forward line led by I-League's all time top scorer Odafa and India boy Sunil Chhetri, who is in scinitillating form against East Bengal's miserly defense marshaled by the pillar of strength - Uga Okpara.
East Bengal may fail to capitalize on Mohun Bagan's suspect defense with newcomer Daniel Zeleny making his debut in the all important match, due to them missing goal machine Tolgay upfront. Robin Singh who hasn't got much of a look around this season and Alan Gow who looks disappointing from open play, may dent East Bengal's chances against a frail Mohun Bagan defense with a bungling and nervy Sangram Mukherjee at the goal.
On the flipside Odafa Okolie is coming back from injury and is not looking as sharp as he was in the preceding I-League seasons where he had set the goal-scoring charts on fire.
All in all, it looks to be a mouth watering clash between two of India's most famous clubs. And also a tactical contest between Subrata and Morgan. Who will prevail?
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DID YOU KNOW? |
- Mohun Bagan are undefeated at home in the I-League this season, having won all three games they played at the Salt Lake Stadium.
- East Bengal's coach Trevor James Morgan also is unbeaten in derby encounters having won 4 of his 5 derbies.
- Bhaichung Bhutia holds the record of scoring the most number of goals in derbies in the I-League and NFL with 6. In the current squad, Mohun Bagan's Rahim Nabi with 4 is the top scorer.
- The two teams have met a massive 298 times with East Bengal having a noticeable edge with 112 derby wins to Mohun Bagan's 83.
- In the I-League/NFL encounters too, East Bengal have performed better than their rivals having won 12 to Bagan's 9 from 28 encounters.
- The highest victory margin recorded in derby matches was also by East Bengal when they thrashed Mohun Bagan 5-0 in the 1975 IFA Shield Final. Mohun Bagan downed East Bengal 5-3 under Karim Bencherifa a couple of seasons back.
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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Mohun Bagan A.C. 0-2 East Bengal F.C.
- 16.17 %
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Mohun Bagan A.C. 3-1 East Bengal F.C.
- 15.57 %
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Mohun Bagan A.C. 5-0 East Bengal F.C.
- 10.18 %
| I-League (IND1) | 09-Feb-2013 | Mohun Bagan A.C. 0 - East Bengal F.C. 0 |
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| I-League (IND1) | 09-Dec-2012 | East Bengal F.C. 3 - Mohun Bagan A.C. 0 |
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| I-League (IND1) | 04-Feb-2012 | East Bengal F.C. 1 - Mohun Bagan A.C. 1 |
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| I-League (IND1) | 20-Nov-2011 | Mohun Bagan A.C. 1 - East Bengal F.C. 0 |
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| I-League (IND1) | 09-Apr-2011 | East Bengal F.C. 2 - Mohun Bagan A.C. 1 |
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Mohun Bagan A.C.
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| 12-May-2013 | United Sikkim F.C. 0 - Mohun Bagan A.C. 3 | IND1 |
| 07-May-2013 | Churchill Brothers SC 1 - Mohun Bagan A.C. 1 | IND1 |
| 28-Apr-2013 | Mohun Bagan A.C. 2 - Pailan Arrows F.C. 0 | IND1 |
| 24-Apr-2013 | Mohun Bagan A.C. 1 - Pune FC 3 | IND1 |
| 21-Apr-2013 | Mohun Bagan A.C. 0 - Churchill Brothers SC 2 | IND1 |
East Bengal F.C.
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| 15-May-2013 | East Bengal F.C. 5 - Yangon United 1 | AC |
| 12-May-2013 | East Bengal F.C. 0 - Shillong Lajong FC 1 | IND1 |
| 08-May-2013 | East Bengal F.C. 6 - United Sikkim F.C. 0 | IND1 |
| 04-May-2013 | Dempo SC 2 - East Bengal F.C. 2 | IND1 |
| 30-Apr-2013 | East Bengal F.C. 4 - Sai Gon Xuan Thanh FC 1 | AC |
| 21 | Sangram Mukherjee | Goalkeeper |
| 6 | Dhanrajan R | Defender |
| 40 | Kingkshuk Debnath | Midfielder |
| 19 | Syed Nabi | Defender |
| 2 | Daniell Zeleny | Defender |
| 20 | Rakesh Masih | Defender |
| 13 | Surkumar Singh | Defender |
| 9 | Odafa Onyeka Okolie | Striker |
| 23 | Jewel Raja | Midfielder |
| 11 | Sunil Chhetri | Striker |
| 10 | Jose Barreto | Midfielder |
| 1 | Sudipta Banerjee | Goalkeeper |
| 18 | Daljit Singh | Defender |
| 6 | Sourav Chakraborty | Defender |
| 9 | Souvik Chakrabarty | Midfielder |
| 22 | N.P. Pradeep | Midfielder |
| 25 | Snehasish Chakrabarty | Midfielder |
| 12 | Ashim Biswas | Striker |
| 30 | Gurpreet Singh Sandhu | Goalkeeper |
| 19 | Robert Lalthlamuana | Defender |
| 4 | Uga Okpara | Defender |
| 3 | Nirmal Chettri | Defender |
| 8 | Thokchom Naoba Singh | Defender |
| 15 | Sanju Pradhan | Midfielder |
| 18 | Penn Ikechukwu Orji | Midfielder |
| 49 | Sushant Mathew | Midfielder |
| 12 | Reisangmi Vashum | Midfielder |
| 23 | Robin Singh | Striker |
| 15 | Alan Gow | Striker |
| 42 | Sandip Nandy | Goalkeeper |
| 33 | Saikata Saha Roy | Defender |
| 16 | Gurwinder Singh | Defender |
| 29 | Saumik Dey | Defender |
| 7 | Harmanjot Khabra | Defender |
| 3 | Ravinder Singh | Defender |
| 6 | Baljit Sahni | Striker |
| Sunil Chhetri | |
| Position: | Striker |
| Squad Number: | 11 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
In Red Hot Form both for club and country, Sunil Chhetri will also have a point to prove with the Rangers scouts watching his performances with earnest. Contributes equally with his tireless running and harassing defenders as with his eye for the goal.
| Alan Gow | |
| Position: | Striker |
| Squad Number: | 15 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Deadly this season from set pieces. This Scottish hitman can really make the most of any dead ball situations to give his team an advantage.
21 
6 
40 
19 
2 
20 
13 
9 
23 
11 
10 
30 
19 
4 
3 
8 
15 
18 
49 
12 
23 
15 
Results
Times In IST
Live
Final
scheduled
Suspended
Cancelled
Postponed
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Ranti Martins Striker Prayag United |
27 | 3 |
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Odafa Onyeka Okolie Striker Mohun Bagan |
20 | 3 |
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Edeh Chidi Striker East Bengal |
18 | 3 |
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James Moga Striker Pune |
16 | 0 |
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H. Antchouet Striker Churchill |
14 | 1 |