Churchill Brothers Mohun Bagan I-League 2019-20I-League

Mohun Bagan extend lead atop with Churchill Brothers revenge

Papa Diawara (6'), Suhair VP (50') and Komron Tursunov (58') helped Mohun Bagan to a 3-0 win over Churchill Brothers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Saturday.

The Kolkata giants avenged their 4-2 defeat earlier this season in Kalyani and now see themselves 11 points clear atop the I-League 2019-20 standings as the Red Machines remain two behind second-placed Punjab FC (21 points).

Churchill coach Bernardo Tavares brought in Ponif Vaz in place of the suspended Robert Primus. With Dhanachandra Singh suspended for the visitors, Kibu Vicuna included Daneil Cyrus in his first eleven with Gurjinder Kumar coming in place of Tursunov.

The opening goal came as early as in the sixth minute when Diawara got the final touch after Fran Gonzalez headed a Joseba Beitia free-kick across the face of goal.

Papa Diawara Churchill Brothers Mohun Bagan I-League 2019-20

It was only after the 25th minute that the home side finally made some inroads with Dawda Ceesay playing a lob towards Willis Plaza which saw goalkeeper Sankar Roy off his line. The Trinidadian laid it off for Lalkhawpuimawia but Gonzalez made a crutial intevention.

Plaza had two chances that befell him around the half hour mark. On one occasion he pulled ahead of Fran Morante and Ashutosh Mehta but in the process, he ended up making the angle too difficult for a shot on goal as his final effort went wide. In the 32nd minute, he forced a save off Roy with a firm right-footer from outside the box. 

Socrates Pedro nearly scored the equalised early in the second half but his header only landed up on top of the crossbar after Plaza headed Ceesay's cross towards the Angolese attacker in the 47th minute.

Churchill Brothers Mohun Bagan I-League 2019-20

However, Bagan made the task more daunting by building a three-goal cushion for themselves by the 58th minute.Suhair took the ball from Diawara and made a run inside the box and his right-footer bulged the net in the 50th minute while Bagan's second half substitute Tursunov tapped in a Gurjinder cross from the left to take the game away from the Goans.

The Mariners kept their search on for a fourth as Diawara forced a save from Patil. He also saw one of his shot blocked on the goal-line by Vaz. Churchill survived again when Gonzalez' attempt from Beitia's corner in the 75th minute came off the upright. Substitute Subha Ghosh also forced Patil into making an important save in the 87th minute.

With this win, Bagan extended their lead at the top to 11 points and now look firm favourites to clinch the league title.

Advertisement