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Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal (MB vs EB) Highlights: Owing to two headed goals from Joseba Beitia and Baba Diawara, Mohun Bagan edged past East Bengal in the penultimate derby to win it 2-1 at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Sunday.
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The Mariners, who extended their unbeaten run to six matches, started the match with vigour and reaped the rewards early in the 18th minute after Joseba Beitia broke the deadlock with a headed finish past East Bengal’s Lalthuammawia Ralte in the 18th minute. Baba Diawara scored the second in the second half in the 64th minute from Beitia’s corner to double the lead quite deservedly.
But, Alejandro Menendez’s men looked charged up right after conceding the second goal and halved the deficit through a Marcos Espada goal in the 71st minute. East Bengal threatened the Mohun Bagan goal numerous times towards the end, with Juan Mera and Kassim Aidara hitting the woodwork too, but ultimately failed to equalise. After the end of the match, Mohun Bagan lead the table with 17 points from eight matches, whereas East Bengal have eight points from seven. Read less
It's all over, and Mohun Bagan have triumphed over the rivals after a shaky last half-hour from them. Two headed goals from Joseba Beitia and Baba Diawara were enough for the league leaders to clinch their fifth win of the season and extend their unbeaten run to six matches. Kudos to East Bengal for giving a fight in the second half where they scored one through Marcos Espada. Mohun Bagan lead the table with 17 points from eight matches, which East Bengal have eight points from seven.
Five minutes of added time has been given. East Bengal are completely dominating the match now, but can they find an equaliser?
Jaime Colado misses by a whisker from a direct freekick. From 25 yards, he shot brilliantly making Sankar Roy go full stretch but he misses the goal by mere centimetres. East Bengal looking deadly with each chance. Mohun Bagan have to find a way to calm things down.
Everything is happening at Salt Lake now! Juan Mera finds a bit of space in the middle and unleashes a deadly left-footed shot from outside of the box which then rattles the Mohun Bagan crossbar. Sankar Roy was just a spectator.
S. K. Sahil goes off for Britto PM. Kibu Vicuna makes a change in the middle of the park. On the other hand, Edmund Lalrindika, who came on as a substitute and set up the goal, goes out limping. Abhijit Sarkar replaces him for East Bengal.
Marcos Espada makes a fine run from the left flank and slots home past Sankar Roy. East Bengal pull one back, after catching the Mohun Bagan midfield napping and Edmund Lalrindika makes a darting run through the middle and releasing the forward. He made it look easy with his finish to the keeper's right. Game on in the Kolkata derby now! | Mohun Bagan 2-1 East Bengal, 71 mins |
Just when East Bengal fans were finding their voice, Baba Diawara doubles the lead with a precise glancing header from a corner! A brilliant corner fromJoseba Beitia and the Senegalese striker outjumps everyone in the box and from the near post guides the ball past the East Bengal goalkeeper. The league leaders are in fine position now. | Mohun Bagan 2-0 East Bengal, 64 mins |
Mohun Bagan make their first change. Gurjinder Kumar comes on for the limping Ashutosh Mehta.
A penalty shout for East Bengal goes in vain, as everyone in the stadium though Sankar Roy manhandled Marcus Espada, but the lofted ball in the process had hit the East Bengal forward's hand. A free kick for Mohun Bagan.
Edmund Lalrindika comes on for Pintu Mahata. A like for like change for East Bengal.
It has been all a bit everywhere from the start of the second half, with fouls and headed clearances. But East Bengal have looked well on the frontfoot and there has been a change in the rhythm too, with Jaime Colado playing a little bit deeper to help in the buildup process. Mohun Bagan are conceding poor fouls on the right flank though.
And we're back underway! Pintu Mahata finds himself in acres of space on the right wing but his dipping cross fails to find any East Bengal player. Jaime Colado was coming into the box.
A first half of excitement and energy comes to an end. Joseba Beitia with the sole goal, with Mohun Bagan dominating play mostly from the left thanks to an inspired performance from Nangdamba Naorem. Baba Diawara came close to doubling the lead, but Lalthuammawia Ralte came up with the save of the match. East Bengal came close twice, but didn't do enough, although Juan Mera has looked quite lively so far. Alejandro Menendez has to change something. More to play for in the second half!
What a save by the East Bengal goalkeeper! A snapshot by Baba Diawara from inside of the box from a corner, and Lalthuammawia Ralte shows the spring in his step. Mohun Bagan could have doubled their lead.
After a disallowed goal for Mohun Bagan, the match has somewhat slowed down with East Bengal looking to carve out opportunities. Mohun Bagan holding firm here to preserve their lead, but are breaking from their right with Asutosh Mehta making more than one marauding runs.
From the resulting freekick, Sankar Roy is brought into action as he pams Lalrindika Ralte's free kick, and with the ball loose on the ground East Bengal fail to put it in the back of the net. A huge opportunity!
Juan Mera has looked quite lively on the ball here, and has offered a spark in attack for East Bengal. As he breaks through the middle, Fran Gonzalez brings him down with a mistimed tackle from behind. Yellow card is brandished for the Mohun Bagan midfielder.
Half an hour gone, and the story has been a rather expected one. Mohun Bagan are controlling the game, pressing quite high and troubling the likes of Marti Crespi in possession. East Bengal for the meantime are sitting deep and looking to break on counters. Still, 1-0.
Ever since conceding that goal, East Bengal have looked shaky, failing to control the ball. And they have conceded another foul here, although from which nothing came to pass for Mohun Bagan. Joseba Beitia is looking unplayable at times almost though.
Mohun Bagan have a taken an early lead from Joseba Beitia! What a cross from Nangdomba Naorem, and what a header! The young winger takes on two players on the left wing and lifts a cross directly to the Spaniard's head, and he puts it in past Lalthuammawia Ralte. The league leaders lead! | Mohun Bagan 1-0 East Bengal, 18 mins |
And now Lalrindika Ralte misses a head right in the face of goal. East Bengal's best chance of the half from a Mohun Bagan defensive lapse. Still, Mohun Bagan looking to find their purpose with the ball. Nangdamba Naorem shows some happy feet on the other end, and earns Mohun Bagan a corner, which is ultimately cleared away.
Mohun Bagan have upped their ante, with a defence-splitting pass from Fran Gonzalez, but the cross is cleared away clumsily by the East Bengal defence. Joseba Beitia's corner then finds Fran Gonzalez, but to no avail. Still goalless here.
Mohun Bagan's Boubacar Diawara has been in the thick of things with him coming close twice to scoring with the ball, one in the third minute from a cross and another from a Suhair pass. Minutes later, East Bengal's Juan Mera pops up with an on target long ranger. So far, it has been an end-to-end affar in Kolkata.
East Bengal have begun on the frontfoot, causing troubles infront of the Mohun Bagan from the first minute itself. An indirect free kick lead to a corner, and the Red and Yellow almost came close to scoring. A bright start to the derby here.
East Bengal will have to come up with something really special to best Mohun Bagan, as powered by Fran Gonzalez, the leading scorer of the league with five goals, have looked like authentic title contenders. And amidst a packed Yuva Bharati Krirarangan, after the captains, Dhanachandra Singh and Lalrindika Ralte, shook their hands and had the toss, East Bengal start the proceedings from the centre-circle. It's underway!
The elephant in the room is obviously this derby being the penultimate derby between the two historical teams as a merger between Mohun Bagan and ATK has been given the go-ahead. The significant tie-up was announced on Thursday, with the RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) Group acquiring the 80 per cent stake in the Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Private Limited. The new entity, using the brand names of Mohun Bagan and ATK, will be part of the ISL from the 2020-21 season onwards. | READ MORE |
Starting XI: Lalthuammawia Ralte, Kamalpreet Singh, Jaime Colado, Pintu Mahata, Kassim Aidara, Marcos Espada, Lalrindika Ralte, Marti Crespi, Juan Gonzalez, Abhishek Ambekar, Mehtab Singh
Subs: Mirajuddin, Saikhom, Thokchom, Akhay, Akash, Sujit, Sougata
Starting XI: Sankar Roy, Francisco Morante, Ashutosh Mehta, Papa Diawara, Joseba Beitia, Nongdamba Naorem, V. P. Suhair, Dhanachandra Singh, S. K. Sahil, Daniel Cyrus, Francisco Gonzalez
Subs: Debjit, Gurjinder, Komron, Subha, Shilton D'Silva, Britto, Chullova
East Bengal lead the way in head-to-head record winning 17 matches, drawing 13 and losing 14 of them. The last two meetings ended in East Bengal's favour, as they won 2-0 on 27 January, 2019 and 3-2 on 16 December, 2018. Incidentally, the three before that were won by Mohun Bagan.
Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the much-awaited Kolkata derby. Mohun Bagan, who are at the top of the table with 14 points from seven games, have been the team to beat this season who are currently enjoying a five-match unbeaten run. With East Bengal in poor form, losing two consecutive matches since the turn of the year, can the Mariners extend the lead over their arch-rivals to nine points? Stay tuned to know more!