I-League 2015/16: Spirited Mumbai hold Mohun Bagan to a goalless draw

02/10/2016

A spirited Mumbai side dashed defending champions Mohun Bagan’s hopes of three points at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai on Wednesday after holding them to a goalless draw. With the draw, Mohun Bagan will remain in the third spot behind Bengaluru FC and East Bengal in the I-League table.

Starting Line-ups:

Mumbai FC: Pawan (GK), Ramu, Son, Pratik, Allan, Anwar Ali, N.P. Pradeep (c), Arata, Brown, Kozawa, Sushil Singh

Mohun Bagan: Debjit (GK), Raju, Luciano, Kinshuk, Dhanachandra, Katsumi (c), Pronay, Bikramjit, Norde, Jeje, Glen

A 0-1 away defeat against DSK Shivajians in the Maharashtra derby last Sunday had ended Mumbai’s unbeaten run in the league. With the 2014/15 champions arriving at their home turf, coach Khalid Jamil made three changes to the XI and brought in veteran midfielder NP Pradeep for injured skipper Taisuke Matsugae. Anwar Ali and Allan Dias also made it to the XI in place of Ashutosh Mehta and Malemngamba Meetei in what looked like a defensive-minded 4-5-1 formation.

On the other hand, Mohun Bagan had faced a 0-6 drubbing in their Asian Champions League adventure last week, and this brought some pragmatic changes from coach Sanjoy Sen today with defensive midfielder Bikramjit Singh coming in for Brandon Fernandes. The Kolkata club also switched to a more traditional 4-4-2 from the 4-2-3-1 formation which was used in previous matches.

With both teams looking tactically and technically solid, the first fifteen minutes of the game slowly passed by without testing the custodians at either end of the ground. Then from out of nowhere, Eric Brown launched a 35-yard free-kick which looked destined for the top corner, to wake up Debjit Majumdar from his slumber. A full-length dive from the goalie saved his team from going behind, and it also added much-needed intensity to the game.

Energised by the free-kick from Brown, Mumbai dominated for the next few minutes with some good play in the middle of the park, only to see Sushil Kumar Singh skying his opportunities. When it was looking Mumbai all the way, a defensive lapse from the home team provided the defending champions with their first clear-cut chance of the game. Min-Chol Son let the ball ping pong around in the box, and it fell to an onrushing Bikramjit, who was thwarted by a brilliant save from Pawan Kumar with a pile-driver.

A period of lull and laxity followed Mohun Bagan’s effort before Sony Norde lit it up before the end of the period. A free-kick from 20-yards curved towards the near post, only to see Pawan Kumar’s outstretched hands once again crushing the Mariners’ dreams.

The second half turned out to be a repeat of the first with both teams sizing each other up in the initial minutes of the second half. As the half progressed, it became more and more clear that one goal will settle the tie with both teams sticking to their defensive approach. And the chance of the game arrived for the defending champions in the 69th minute with skipper Yusa Katsumi running down the right and squaring if off to Sony Norde for what look like an easy chance. But the forward smashed his attempt against the post to keep both sides deadlocked.

With no more chances in the last twenty minutes, Mohun Bagan and Mumbai settled for a draw to remain third and fourth in the table respectively.