Mohun Bagan SG continued the unbeaten run against East Bengal FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) as they defeated their arch-rivals 1-0 in the Kolkata derby on Saturday. Jamie Maclaren scored the only goal of this high-octane fixture, which was played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
The Mariners stamped their authority at the very beginning when MacLaren latched onto a through ball from right-back Ashish Rai. East Bengal defender Hijazi Maher failed to intercept the pass, allowing the Australian striker to control the ball and calmly finish to give his team the lead in just the second minute. Another individual error hurt East Bengal's cause in the ongoing ISL season.
As the return leg of this ISL’s Kolkata derby progressed, the Torchbearers attempted to challenge Mohun Bagan’s defence, but forwards Cleiton Silva and Dimitrios Diamantakos struggled against the resilient green-and-maroon backline, expertly marshalled by Tom Alfred and Alberto Rodriguez.
Jose Molina’s side nearly doubled their lead in the 21st minute. Jamie MacLaren, receiving a pass from fellow Australian Jesson Cummings, sent a ball from right to the left of East Bengal’s box to find Manveer Singh. However, the Indian forward’s effort was denied by a fantastic near-post save from Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, keeping East Bengal in the match.
Late in the stoppage time of the second half, Oscar Bruzon’s team had a stroke of bad luck. PV Vishnu, who had been their standout player, tried to deliver the ball into the box, only for it to strike the outstretched arm of Mohun Bagan’s Lalengmawia Ralte Apuia. Despite clear calls for a penalty, the referee waved play on, leaving East Bengal’s players deeply frustrated.
East Bengal’s woes continued in the second half when they were caught on the break following a corner from Mohun Bagan’s end. Liston a place ran free with the ball and Souvik Chakraborty, who was already on a yellow card, made an unsuccessful challenge on the Goan forward. The referee didn’t hesitate to send off the Bengali midfielder.
The scoreline remained unchanged for Mohun Bagan to extend their stay at the top of the ISL table with a lead of eight points. For East Bengal, on the other hand, they continue to struggle at 11th in the league of 13 teams.
The East Bengal coach didn’t hesitate to express his disappointment over Maher’s failure which led to the only goal as it was a repetition of another individual error costing his team. “These things are hurting us. The way we are playing we are not top six contenders at the moment,” said Bruzon.
The winning coach, meanwhile, believed his team should have scored more goals. Molina said, “We could have done better. Our decision-making should have been better as well. But overall I’m happy with the performance and hopefully our fans in Kolkata are enjoying.”
Maclaren, who scored the only goal, echoed the sentiments of his coach, especially as they played against 10 men for more than 30 minutes.
“We could have easily scored two-three more goals,” he said.