I-League 2015/16: Norde’s brace powers Mohun Bagan past DSK Shivajians
A brace from striker Sony Norde helped Mohun Bagan beat newcomers DSK Shivajians 2-0 at Pune on Saturday. With the win, the defending champions have moved into the second place in the points table.
Starting Lineups:
DSK Shivajians: Subrata (gk), Adnaik, Indrajeet, Zohmingliana, Milan, Lalhmangaihsanga, Douhou, Amiri, Rafi, Stephen, Dica (c)
Mohun Bagan: Majumder (gk), Yusa (c), Glen, Kinshuk, Dhanachandra, Gaikwad, Pronay, Brandon, Sobrosa, Jeje, Norde
After registering a historic win in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday, Mohun Bagan made two changes to their lineup and brought in Raju Gaikwad and Brandon Fernandes for Pritam Kotal and Souvik Chakraborthy. Coach Sanjoy Sen lined up the team in the 4-2-3-1 formation with captain Yusa Katsumi, Jeje and Sony Norde behind striker Cornell Glen.
DSK Shivajians, on the other hand, made four changes to the team that lost away against East Bengal last Tuesday. Coach Derrick Pereira went for a more attacking formation for their first home game. Amiri, Zohmingliana Ralte, Justin Stephen and Indraneel Chougule came into the team for Lobo, Hakku, Gurung and S. Singh respectively to form a 4-4-2 formation with veteran Mohammed Rafi and captain Aser Pierrick Dipanda from Cameroon leading the line.
DSK had the better start to the match with Douhou Pierre delivering a dangerous looking free kick into the box with no player from the home team making a run for it. However, it was the Mariners, who took the lead with Sony Norde breaking the hearts of the home fans in the 12th minute. A corner from Yusa Katsumi created confusion in the DSK box, and the Haitian was in the right place at the right time to shoot the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring for the champions.
With the goal in the bag, Bagan pushed in search of another with captain Yusa Katsumi and Sony Norde creating mayhem in the DSK defence. Subrata Paul stood tall in the Pune team’s goal to deny the attackers and to keep the scoreline at 1-0 with a couple of saves before the half.
With Rafi and Dipanda struggling against Mohun Bagan’s defence, coach Derrick Pereira brought on Israil Gurung in place of the skipper to change the team’s fortunes in the second half. But it was once again Sony Norde, who dashed the hopes of the home faithful, by scoring his second of the game in the 53rd minute to double the Kolkata team’s lead. A low pile driver from outside the box was enough to beat Subrata Paul at his right hand corner.
Trailing 0-2 in their maiden home game, DSK threw the kitchen sink at the Bagan defence for the last half an hour in search of a way back into the match. They almost scored their maiden goal of the I-League in the 64th minute after Mohammed Rafi’s header ricocheted off the post and found Gurung in space, but the winger blasted the ball over the bar from five yards to draw the curtains over DSK’s hopes.
It went from bad to horrible for the home team in the 75th minute after right back Sena Ralte received marching orders from the referee for pulling back Jeje to earn the second yellow card. Down to 10 men, DSK spent the last 15 minutes in their own half trying to stop Bagan from adding to the embarrassment.
With the win, the defending champions rose to the second spot with ten points and a game in hand. Mohun Bagan will now travel to China to take on Shandon Luneng in the second round of AFC Champions League qualifier on February 2 before returning home to take on Shillong Lajong on February 6.
With three back-to-back defeats, DSK Shivajains find their place near the bottom of the table with no goals to their name in the four matches. The next game for the Pune team will be the Maharashtra Derby against Mumbai FC on February 7.