Sunday 16 June 2013

East Bengal 0-2 Mohun Bagan : I-League 2nd Leg 2007-08

21 January 08, Calcutta: You just cannot get enough of Bhaichung Bhutia. The peerless India and Mohun Bagan captain was at it again on Monday, scoring a brace and leading his team to their fifth consecutive win over East Bengal at the Salt Lake Stadium.
The 2-0 victory helped Mohun Bagan move up to fourth place in the ONGC I-League with 20 points from 12 matches, seven points shy of leaders Dempo. There was, however, no change in fortune for East Bengal even under new coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee, as they continued their slide towards relegation. With eight points from 12 matches, the red-and-golds are precariously placed just above Salgaocar (eight) in the 10-team table.
Such was East Bengal’s misery that they failed to take advantage of Mohun Bagan backline cover Douglas da Silva’s marching order in the 48th minute owing to double booking.
Bhaichung’s two goals put him on a par with Mahindra United’s Yusif Yakubu with 80 goals as the highest scorers in the meet. These goals had all the qualities East Bengal lacked — athleticism, balance and grace. The first goal, scored in the 28th minute, was an example of how deadly could be the sting of theBhaichung-Jose Ramirez Barreto combine.

It all started with East Bengal wing-half Syed Rahim Nabi’s atrocious cross which landed in the Mohun Bagan half-line instead of their box. Lalkamal Bhowmick delivered the ball quickly in the path of Barreto on the left. The Brazilian began the counter-move as M. Bolaji tried to retreat. Seeing Bhaichung darting ahead, the Brazilian released a perfect ball in the direction of his captain. Bhaichung took a first-time shot which beat Subrata Paul at the near post.
If that goal was all about the striker’s power and grace, the second spoke volumes of his athleticism. Barreto again set it up in the 62nd minute and Bhaichung was already inside the box facing his challenger Surkumar Singh. The East Bengal defender went for a desperate sliding tackle and the ball ricocheted off Bhaichung’s legs towards the goal. Paul did his best to push it back with a full-stretched dive, only to see it land near Dharamjit Singh’s feet. Mohun Bagan medio, to everybody’s surprise, struck the post from close. The ball spun back to the other end for Bhaichung to snap up the rebound.
East Bengal, with neither a leader like Bhaichung nor an idea, were badly missing Edmilson in the upfront. But those who were present at the ground didn’t show any imagination either to justify the value of their jersey.East Bengal started vigorously with Douglas intercepting an inviting Mehtab Hussain cross in the 13th minute. Nine minutes later, Mohun Bagan survived another close call, as referee Dinesh Nair refused to pay heed to East Bengal’s appeal for penalty when left-back N. Mohan Raj apparently pushed Mehtab inside the box.
But these adventures paled into insignificance as Mohun Bagan mid-field started blooming. Bhaichung then gave it the meaningful expression with the style of potential champions.
TEAMS
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee; Habibur Rahman Mondal, Peter Odafe, N.S. Manju, N. Mohan Raj; James Singh, Douglas da Silva Lalkamal Bhowmick (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 56), Dharamjit Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto; Bhaichung Bhutia.
East Bengal: Subrata Paul; Surkumar Singh, Julius Owinho, M. Bolaji, Soumik Dey (Snehashish Chakraborty, 46, Dipankar Roy, 70); Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehrajuddin Wadao, Mehtab Hussain, Alvito D’Cunha, Debabrata Sarkar; McDonald Mukansi (Dipendu Biswas, 75).
Referee: Dinesh Nair.

Here are the match videos :





Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080122/jsp/sports/story_8811705.jsp

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