I-League 2015/16 – Mohun Bagan drop points on the road against Sporting
Brandon Fernandes' debut goal was not enough for Mohun Bagan, as Nicholas Fernandes equalized for Sporting Goa to ensure a 1-1 draw at the Fatorda Stadium. With these two dropped points, the defending champions have left the door ajar for Bengaluru FC to close the gap at the top of the table.
Sporting Clube de Goa XI: Bhattacharya (GK); Bose, Cardozo, Enyinnaya, Clement; Borges, Thakur, Fernandes, Al Amenah; Martins, Okolie
Mohun Bagan XI: Majumdar (GK); Gaikwad, Debnath, Sabrosa, Singh; Katsumi, Rodrigues, Katsumi, Norde; Glen, Lalpekhlua
Despite the home team working hard to close down the Mohun Bagan midfielders, the visitors dominated most of the proceedings at the start of the match. Eventually in the 28th minute, Bagan took the deserved lead through Brandon Fernandes.
Sony Norde created the opportunity with an amazing run down the left wing. The Haitian got past Joseph Clemente like he did not exist and picked out Brandon with a lovely cross. The youngster had the easy task of tapping it into the net, to score his first goal for Mohun Bagan.
However, the 21-year-old did not last long to celebrate his success as he picked up a knock and had to be replaced with Pronay Halder in the 32nd minute.
Sporting manager Mateus Costa responded with a tactical change of his own, as he replaced Ganesh Thakur with Victorino Fernandes. The Goan forward made an immediate impact for the home side, as he created the equalizing goal with a dangerous cross from the right wing, which was finished with aplomb by Nicholas Fernandes.
Both the teams went into the break tied at 1-1, and it was the defending champions who started the second half stronger.
Cornell Glen and Yusa Katsumi missed a couple of golden opportunities for the visitors, and they failed to score the winning goal. The match ended 1-1 with both the teams sharing the spoils. Mohun Bagan failed to take full advantage of East Bengal's defeat earlier in the day, and this draw will now allow Bengaluru FC the opportunity to close down the gap, when they face Shillong Lajong tomorrow.