I-League 2015/16 – Mohun Bagan trounce Salgaocar to extend lead at the top

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

02/27/2016

Mohun Bagan followed up their impressive performance in the AFC Cup with a comfortable 3-1 win over Salgaocar at Goa on Saturday. A brace from Cornell Glen helped them stretch their lead to four points over rivals East Bengal, while Salgaocar remained rooted at the bottom of the league table.

Starting Line-ups:

Salgaocar FC XI: Karanjit (GK)(C); Alesh (U-22), Gilbert, Duffy, Gurjinder, Scott, Keenan, Reagan, Seityasen, Augustin, Eder

Mohun Bagan XI: Majumder (GK); Yusa (C), Balmuchu, Glen, Kinshuk, Lenny, Dhanachandra, Gaikwad, Brandon (U-22), Jeje, Norde

Mohun Bagan manager Sanjoy Sen made four changes to the line-up he used in the AFC Cup match against Maziya in Guwahati on Wednesday. Sanjay Balmuchu, Kingshuk Debnath, Brandon Fernandes and goalkeeper Debjit Majumdar returned to the team for this crucial away fixture.

Riding high on the confidence gained with their performance in the last match, the defending champions made an excellent start to the game, and took the lead in the 13th minute. Sony Norde picked out Lenny Rodrigues' run into the box with a fine pass, and the midfielder's shot was kept out by Karanjit Singh. However, the ball fell kindly for Jeje Lalpekhlua, who put the ball into the back of the net with ease.

Mohun Bagan sat back and played on the counter-attack after taking the lead, and the pace of their attackers were troubling the exposed Salgaocar defence time and again. In the 30th minute, Mohun Bagan doubled their lead with Cornell Glen continuing his impressive recent goalscoring form.

Midfielder Yusa Katsumi tried his luck from the distance, and his shot was deflected off Eder onto the path of Glen, who kept his calm in front of the goal, and found the bottom corner of the net.

Just before the end of the first half, Glen completed his brace with a goal which was assisted by the poor condition of the football pitch at the Tilak Maidan Stadium. The move started from another counter attack with Glen running with the ball from the halfway mark, before releasing a low left-footed shot from outside the box. The goalkeeper dived and was about to keep it out, when the ball took an unexpected bounce off the pitch, and went over the diving custodian, to make it 3-0 at half-time.

In the second half, Salgaocar pushed forward with much more intent, and in the 71st minute Darryl Duffy headed in a consolation goal, off Jackichand Singh's cross from the left wing. The home side failed to create any more clear cut chances and the match ended 3-1 in favour of the Mariners.

I-League 2015/16 – Mohun Bagan trounce Salgaocar to extend lead at the top

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