Guwahati, Jan 12 (UNI) Mohun Bagan Super Giant stretched their dominance in the Kolkata Derby with a 1-0 win over East Bengal FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here in the Indian Super League (ISL) match here.
Jamie Maclaren scored the fastest goal of the Kolkata Derby in ISL and it was enough for the reigning champions to see out their arch-rivals, whilst going eight points clear (35) at the top of the table, compared to the second-placed Bengaluru FC (27).
The Mariners have now won nine times and drawn once in their 10 Kolkata Derby clashes against East Bengal FC in the ISL.
The Mariners started the game strongly on Saturday night as Maclaren handed them the early lead in the second minute.
The East Bengal FC backline were caught off-guard as Asish Rai’s long ball found Maclaren in space. After receiving the ball, he lost his marker and slotted it past an onrushing Prabhsukhan Gill without any difficulty.
Around the sixth minute mark, it was East Bengal FC’s turn to attack and they did get two great opportunities to equalise through PV Vishnu and Cleiton Silva. But, both the players weren’t clinical enough as they saw their attempts get blocked.
In the 21st minute, the Mariners almost doubled their lead when Maclaren found Manvir Singh with a telling cross. However, the latter’s shot was straight at Gill with the entire goal found gaping.
East Bengal FC gained a lot of momentum as the first half came to a close with the likes of Jeakson Singh, Vishnu and Cleiton getting on the ball in the final third and creating problems for the Mohun Bagan Super Giant backline. However, they weren’t clinical enough to end the first half on level terms.
The second half was extremely cagey with the Mariners enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but they weren’t able to break down East Bengal FC’s resolute defence.
Whereas, Oscar Bruzon’s men were looking to hit the Mariners with their gritty counter-attacks. But there weren’t many chances of note in the first quarter of the second half.
Things took a drastic turn in the 64th minute when Souvik Chakrabarti brought down Liston Colaco near the penalty area, only to receive his second yellow card followed by subsequent marching orders.
With one goal down, East Bengal FC were now chasing the game with 10 men. As a retaliation, Bruzon brought on Naorem Mahesh Singh in place of David Lalhlansanga with the hope of solidifying the midfield.
In the 75th minute, Jose Molina freshened things up as he replaced Jason Cummings with Greg Stewart. He almost made an immediate impact when he released Liston on the left flank, but his subsequent effort was blocked by Gill.
Just like in the first half, East Bengal FC were on the ascendancy for the final ten minutes in the second half and therefore the likes of Dimitrios Petratos and Deepak Tangri came on late in the game with the hope of closing out the match.
The Red & Golds threw bodies forward in the final few minutes of the game but they lacked quality in the final third to break through the defence of the Mariners as they continued their near-perfect record in the fixture.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant will next face Jamshedpur FC on January 17, whereas East Bengal FC will lock horns against FC Goa on January 19.
UNI BM ARN