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Mohun Bagan 2-0 East Bengal: The Mariners Register An Emphatic Win In The CFL Against The Red And Gold Brigade
In the new year's first Kolkata Derby which was also the 300th time the two teams met, Odafa and youngster Bhargav find the net to give the Mariners the bragging rights...
07-Jan-2012 7:41:00 PM
By Kaustav Bera
AIFF
The 300th Derby encounter between fierce rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan turned out to be a mouth-watering affair, with Mohun Bagan clinching the match 2-0 with early goals from Odafa Okolie in the 22nd minute and Manish Bhargav in the 29th minute.
East Bengal's fine start to the match was undone after the twin strike within a space of less than ten minutes allowed Mohun Bagan to dictate the proceedings.
The last match between the teams was a fiesty encounter with a solitary penalty allowing Mohun Bagan to trounce their rivals in the I-League. The officials did not want to take any chances and sought the services of Asia's best referee for three years running, Ravshan Irmatov to officiate the match.
Odafa started upfront alone for Mohun Bagan with Daniel Zeleny and Rakish Masih playing in central midfield with the objective of stemming East Bengal's attacks. Hudson Lima and Manish Bhargav started on the wings.
East Bengal looked to start in their usual 4-4-2 with the ever dependable Mehtab Hussain being backed by the creative spark of Penn Orji.
It was all East Bengal in the opening twenty minutes or so of the match as they did not allow their opponents to settle in the match and went for the kill from the word go.
Trevor Morgan's side dominated possession with Nirmal Chettri almost making it 1-0 in the fifth minute from a Sanju Pradhan free-kick.
However, against the run of play, the match turned on its heels when Syed Rahim Nabi's ball found Odafa who dribbled easily past Mehtab and drilled a shot towards Sandip Nandy who made a hash of it and gifted Mohun Bagan the lead.
Just six minutes later, things turned worse for the trailing side as Hudson Lima was allowed to run free on the left and his inswinging cross found the enterprising youngster Manish Bhargav in acres of space before the latter headed past a hapless Nandy.
Before the change of ends, Tolgay Ozbey saw his shot sail wide after beating his marker in one of the rare moves by East Bengal after going down by two goals.
Mohun Bagan had two chances to further extend their lead through Odafa Okolie and Hudson Lima in the second half, while East Bengal could have got one back from a delightful pass from Penn Orji but Saumik Dey wasn't upto the mark.
Morgan affected an ambitious move bringing on all three of his substitutes at once - Reisangmi Vashum, Khanthang Paite and Baljit Sahni replacing Sanju Pradhan, Harmanjot Khabra and Saumik Dey respectively.
While on the other hand, Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya was content in bringing on Snehashish Chakraborty in place of Lima.
The change in personel however did little to change the match as East Bengal custodian Sandip Nandy almost gifted another goal to Jewel Raja from a wayward goal-kick but the Mohun Bagan midfielder failed to find the target.
In the closing minutes, East Bengal's Penn Orji and Tolgay Ozbey weren't able to find a goal with a number of long-rangers, while the Mohun Bagan fans were feasted to the introduction of Jose Ramirez Barreto who came in place of Jewel Raja.
Inspite of almost conceding the CFL to East Bengal, Mohun Bagan have given their fans something to cheer about by outclassing their rivals in the Kolkata derby match, also handing Morgan his second derby defeat in a row.
East Bengal's fine start to the match was undone after the twin strike within a space of less than ten minutes allowed Mohun Bagan to dictate the proceedings.
The last match between the teams was a fiesty encounter with a solitary penalty allowing Mohun Bagan to trounce their rivals in the I-League. The officials did not want to take any chances and sought the services of Asia's best referee for three years running, Ravshan Irmatov to officiate the match.
Odafa started upfront alone for Mohun Bagan with Daniel Zeleny and Rakish Masih playing in central midfield with the objective of stemming East Bengal's attacks. Hudson Lima and Manish Bhargav started on the wings.
East Bengal looked to start in their usual 4-4-2 with the ever dependable Mehtab Hussain being backed by the creative spark of Penn Orji.
It was all East Bengal in the opening twenty minutes or so of the match as they did not allow their opponents to settle in the match and went for the kill from the word go.
Trevor Morgan's side dominated possession with Nirmal Chettri almost making it 1-0 in the fifth minute from a Sanju Pradhan free-kick.
However, against the run of play, the match turned on its heels when Syed Rahim Nabi's ball found Odafa who dribbled easily past Mehtab and drilled a shot towards Sandip Nandy who made a hash of it and gifted Mohun Bagan the lead.
Just six minutes later, things turned worse for the trailing side as Hudson Lima was allowed to run free on the left and his inswinging cross found the enterprising youngster Manish Bhargav in acres of space before the latter headed past a hapless Nandy.
Before the change of ends, Tolgay Ozbey saw his shot sail wide after beating his marker in one of the rare moves by East Bengal after going down by two goals.
Mohun Bagan had two chances to further extend their lead through Odafa Okolie and Hudson Lima in the second half, while East Bengal could have got one back from a delightful pass from Penn Orji but Saumik Dey wasn't upto the mark.
Morgan affected an ambitious move bringing on all three of his substitutes at once - Reisangmi Vashum, Khanthang Paite and Baljit Sahni replacing Sanju Pradhan, Harmanjot Khabra and Saumik Dey respectively.
While on the other hand, Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya was content in bringing on Snehashish Chakraborty in place of Lima.
The change in personel however did little to change the match as East Bengal custodian Sandip Nandy almost gifted another goal to Jewel Raja from a wayward goal-kick but the Mohun Bagan midfielder failed to find the target.
In the closing minutes, East Bengal's Penn Orji and Tolgay Ozbey weren't able to find a goal with a number of long-rangers, while the Mohun Bagan fans were feasted to the introduction of Jose Ramirez Barreto who came in place of Jewel Raja.
Inspite of almost conceding the CFL to East Bengal, Mohun Bagan have given their fans something to cheer about by outclassing their rivals in the Kolkata derby match, also handing Morgan his second derby defeat in a row.
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